At least five people were killed in a shooting in the northern German town of Stade on Monday, prompting a major police operation.
Authorities have arrested two suspects, including the alleged shooter and investigators are working to establish the motive. Shortly after the incident, police urged residents to avoid the area.
According to police, the shots were fired near a youth facility. A large-scale operation is currently underway outside the town centre. "We ask you to leave the area and give it a wide berth for your own safety," police said in a post on the social media platform X.
The motive for the shooting in Stade, near the port city of Hamburg, remains unclear, a police spokesperson said.
The role of the second suspect in custody is still unclear, according to a second police spokesperson, who confirmed that no other suspects are at large. It is also not yet known how many people were injured.
All those killed were adults. Local media had reported that the incident occurred near a youth centre in central Stade, a town of just under 50,000 inhabitants west of Hamburg.
Authorities have not yet released any further details on the identities of the victims or the injured. Police stated that additional information will be provided as the investigation progresses.
However, a police spokesperson denied this, though he declined to provide further details on the location.
Mass shootings are relatively rare in Germany, particularly in comparison with the United States, although the country has experienced several high-profile incidents in recent years.
In 2023, a gunman killed six people before taking his own life at a Jehovah’s Witness worship hall in Hamburg. In 2016, an 18-year-old German-Iranian man obsessed with mass killings shot dead at least nine people in Munich.
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