Massing shooting at German youth welfare facility leaves 6 dead

At least six people were fatally shot during an attack at a mother-and-child shelter in the northern Germany city of Stade around midday on Monday.

The motive for the crime is presumably a dispute over child custody. Three suspects, including the alleged shooter, are arrested and remain in custody.

The deadly shooting took place in a youth welfare facility on Dankersstrasse, a cobbled street south of the city centre. The facility includes temporary accommodation for pregnant women or young mothers with children.

A wide area around the location has been cordoned off with a large police presence. Forensic experts in white suits were working on site.

Residents were told to stay away but police said later on Monday that there was now "no danger to the public."

Shots were first reported at around 12:10 p.m. local time, according to Stade police. Patrol cars were quick to rush to the crime scene and found several people dead inside the building.

Luneburg Police Chief Kathrin Schuol says officers were initially able to identify four deceased, the fifth person died during resuscitation on site and another succumbed to severe injuries in the hospital, bringing the total fatalities to six.

She adds all the victims - four women and two men - were exclusively facility employees. Several others are also injured.

A 45-year-old man who is born in Germany and has Turkish roots is suspected to have opened fire. Media reports indicate the man is embroiled in a child custody dispute and had an appointment at the shelter earlier that day.

It is understood that his baby daughter and the mother were in the office at the time of the shooting, and were unharmed.

Local police say they have detained the main suspect, along with the mother and another female while a probe to ascertain the cause is underway.

Mass shootings are rare in Germany which has some of Europe's strictist gun laws. The interior minister of Lower Saxony State where Stade is located describes the shooting as an "extremely cold-blooded act of violence" and stresses it is not believed to be driven by political or economic motives.