Five people are dead following a shooting in a city in northern Germany.
Emergency services responded to the incident this morning in Stade, a city 60 km west of Hamburg in Lower Saxony.
Officers have detained two suspects after a gunman opened fire at a youth welfare centre on Dankersstraße, according to Bild.
Both the gunman’s motives and the role of the second suspect, who is in custody, remain unclear, police said.
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The Lüneburg Police Directorate said in a statement: A police operation is currently taking place in Stade. Avoid the area widely!’
In a message on WhatsApp,Polizei Stade told residents to avoid the area and follow the instructions of emergency personnel.
Located in the lower regions of the River Elbe, Stade is home to around 50,000 inhabitants.
Mass shootings remain relatively rare occurrences in Germany.
In 2023, a gunman shot six people in Hamburg before killing himself at a Jehovah’s Witness hall.
An 18-year-old German-Iranian killed at least nine people in Munich after having an obsession with mass killings.
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