A MAN SUSPECTED to be the gunman who killed four women and two men at a German shelter for mothers and their children had been in a custody battle over his three-month-old daughter, police said.

Emergency workers rushed to the scene of the shooting in the northern town of Stade and found four people already dead.

A fifth person died soon after at the scene, while a sixth later succumbed to their injuries.

“The perpetrator had an appointment today, along with many of the victims, to discuss future custody arrangements for his three-month-old daughter,” said Kathrin Schuol, the police chief for Lueneburg, which is leading the investigation.

“Both the child and her mother were present at the location but were not injured by gunfire.”

Schuol said the victims were all child welfare workers, and had all been shot “in a brutal manner”.

A seventh person was wounded and reported in a stable condition.

The suspected gunman tried to flee in a car driven by a 65-year-old woman – believed to have “a close connection to the gunman’s family” – but was captured after a short chase, Schuol said.

Police opened fire on the car but neither the suspected gunman nor the driver were hurt, she added. Both are being held in police custody.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called news of the shooting “deeply shocking”.

“Many people who were trying to help and protect others have lost their lives or been injured,” Merz said. “My thoughts are with the victims and their families.”

The suspect was previously known to police, including for making threats, but “he has not previously been regarded as a particularly violent individual,” Schuol said.

She added that the suspect did not have a firearms licence and it was unclear how he obtained the weapon.

Police said the man was a Turkish citizen but was born in Germany.

The girl’s mother told police after the shooting that she was no longer in a relationship with the suspect, Schuol said, adding that the young child had been placed in care as police question the mother and investigate the case.

The suspect lives in Hanover, about 200km to the south.

Schuol said the shelter in Stade – a town on the Elbe river, about 50km west of Hamburg – is run by a private provider, but offers services to clients including the child welfare agency in Hanover.

An amateur video clip published by Bild daily showed a police roadblock stopping a Mercedes passenger car with a blown-out back tyre on a country road.

Officers with guns are then seen shouting at the two occupants to get out and arresting them as they lie face down on the road.

There is no further danger for the public, police have said. 

As news of the shooting emerged, police confirmed that a major operation was underway in Central Stade.

Images show that a large contingent of police and ambulances were gathered in the city, while helicopters hovered overhead. 

In an earlier post on X, police asked individuals to give a “wide berth of the city centre” for their own safety. 

The city has a population of around 50,000 people and is located 50km West of Hamburg. 

“We ask you to leave the area and give it a wide berth for your own safety,” police said in an earlier post on X.

Strictest gun laws in Europe

Germany has some of Europe’s strictest gun laws that require anyone under the age of 25 to pass a psychiatric exam before applying for a gun licence and mass shootings are relatively rare in the country. 

According to AFP, today’s shooting in Germany is one of the deadliest in recent years. 

In February 2020, a far-right extremist killed nine people and wounded five others in the central German city of Hanau.

In March 2023, a disgruntled former Jehovah’s Witness member shot and killed six people from the Christian group’s congregation in the German city of Hamburg, before turning the gun on himself.

Meanwhile, in May 2022, a 21-year-old gunman opened fire at a secondary school in northern Germany, badly injuring a female member of staff before being arrested.