Five dead, two arrested after shooting at youth facility in northern German town of Stade
At least five people were killed in a shooting at a youth welfare facility in Stade, Lower Saxony, on Monday. Police say two suspects, including the alleged shooter, are in custody.
The shooting
At around 13:15 local time on Monday, gunfire erupted at a youth welfare facility on Dankersstraße in Stade, a town of around 50,000 residents west of Hamburg. Police immediately launched a large-scale operation and urged the public to avoid the area. By mid-afternoon, authorities confirmed that five people had died and several others were injured. The motive remains unclear, and officers stressed that the investigation into the exact sequence of events is ongoing.
Location and victims
The incident occurred in a facility housing mother-child living groups, known locally as Mutter-Kind-Wohngruppen, which specialises in supporting young mothers and their children. The victims are adults, but no further details about their identities have been released. The building is situated in a central part of Stade, south of the town centre, and was the scene of a brief standoff before police secured the site.
Witness accounts and arrests
A neighbour told regional broadcaster NDR that he saw a woman and a young man attempting to flee in a car. Police ordered them to stop and then fired on the vehicle. The witness locked himself inside his home and waited for officers. Two suspects have been detained, one of whom is believed to be the shooter. Police said the public no longer faced any danger, suggesting the immediate threat is contained.
According to the current state of the investigation, a homicide has occurred in a youth assistance facility with multiple victims. According to the data available so far, five people have died and others have been injured.
Broader context
Germany’s gun laws are stricter than those in the United States, and mass shootings, while rare, do occur. In March 2023, a former Jehovah’s Witness killed six people in Hamburg before taking his own life. In February 2020, a right-wing extremist shot nine people in Hanau. The country has also experienced vehicle and knife attacks; in late 2024, a Saudi man drove into a Christmas market in Magdeburg, killing six and injuring more than 300. He was sentenced to life imprisonment last week.
