STADE: A gunman killed six people on Monday in a German youth welfare centre for mothers and their children in what police said was a likely “custody dispute” over the killer’s daughter, before the male suspect and a female companion were arrested.

The deadly shooting spree sparked a major police operation in the northern city of Stade, about 50 kilometres from Hamburg.

The six people killed were all adults, among them one who succumbed to their injuries in hospital, while another person was wounded and in stable condition, a police spokesman said. “A male principal offender and a female companion” were arrested, he said, while a separate police statement mentioned a third suspect being held.

The police spokesman said that investigators believed “it is not a case of femicide, nor does it involve a political background or anything of that nature. Rather it is an extended family tragedy.” N24 television cited witnesses as saying that police deployed to the building after an emergency call and spotted two suspects who attempting to flee in a car, leading police to open fire.

One eyewitness told the news site Focus Online that police shouted “stop where you are” at the man and woman attempting to flee, then fired some 10 to 15 rounds at the vehicle.

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

The day of deadly drama led police to shut down the centre of the city of 50,000 people on the Elbe river in Lower-Saxony state. Police helicopters circled the sky above.

Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2026