Six people have been fatally shot at a centre for mothers and children in Germany by a suspect who was in a custody dispute over his baby daughter, German police say.
The casualties, four women and two men, were all employees at the facility in the northern city of Stade, near Hamburg. Several others were injured as well.
The three-month-old baby and her mother were in the office at the time but were unharmed, according to officials.
Three persons, including the suspected gunman, have been detained by police, and officials say there is no further threat to the public.
Lower Saxony’s Interior Minister, Daniela Behrens, told reporters late Monday that the shooting looked to be “committed for family reasons”.
She described it as “an act of violence carried out in an extremely cold-blooded manner, with no political or economic motives”.
Shots were originally reported at around 12:10 local time (10:10 GMT), according to local police, who subsequently confirmed “homicides involving multiple victims” had occurred at a “youth welfare facility” on Dankerstrasse and warned the public to stay away from the area.
According to investigators, the women and one male were shot dead within the institution, while a sixth person died from their injuries in the hospital. All of the victims were adults.
According to Lueneburg police head Kathrin Schuol, the alleged gunman is a 45-year-old Turkish national who was born in Germany and now lives in Hannover.
Schuol said he had an appointment at the centre on Monday “with many of the victims” to discuss his daughter’s custody.
She stated that he was known to police “in relation to threats” but had not been seen as “a particularly violent individual”. He did not possess a firearms licence.
Schuol said the suspect fled the area in a car driven by a woman.
One eyewitness told Focus Online that cops shouted, “Stop where you are,” at the man and woman before firing repeatedly at the vehicle.
Bild newspaper footage showed police at a roadblock on a neighbouring country road stopping a Mercedes with a blown tyre.
The video shows armed officers instructing the occupants to get out and detaining them while they lie face down in the road.
A large number of police and emergency personnel have been observed in the vicinity.
Children who were at a neighbouring daycare and primary school when the incident occurred have subsequently been collected by their parents, according to a city official.
Stade is located around 30 kilometres (19 miles) west of Hamburg and has a population of approximately 50,000 people.
