Police still to identify Stade attack victims
Six people were killed in a devastating shooting at a youth welfare facility in Stade (a town in Lower Saxony / Niedersachsen, Germany), police confirmed. Authorities are still working to officially identify all six victims.
The victims included four women and two men, all employees of the facility, known in German as a Jugendhilfeeinrichtung (youth welfare center). Investigators believe the attack was likely linked to a bitter custody dispute.
According to police, the suspected gunman, a 45-year-old German-born man with Turkish roots, had arrived for a scheduled meeting regarding custody matters involving his three-month-old daughter. Authorities believe the appointment may have triggered the deadly violence.
Emergency responders found four victims dead at the scene. A fifth victim died during resuscitation efforts, while the sixth later succumbed to injuries in the hospital. The suspect’s infant daughter and her 34-year-old mother were confirmed not to be among the victims.
The alleged shooter was arrested shortly after the attack. Police also detained a 65-year-old woman suspected of driving the getaway vehicle. Daniela Behrens described the attack—carried out about 30 kilometers west of Hamburg—as an isolated case and a “cold-blooded act of violence.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also expressed condolences, calling the tragedy “profoundly shocking.” The investigation remains ongoing as authorities work to determine the full motive behind one of the deadliest attacks to strike Stade in recent years.