Memorial Service in Garbsen for the Six Victims of the Stade Shooting

Among the guests, Lower Saxony's Minister President Olaf Lies spoke. He described the act as "unglaublich" ("incredible"), "brutal," "grausam" ("cruel"), and "unbegreiflich" ("incomprehensible"). "Diese Frauen und Männer, um die wir heute trauern, haben in einem Bereich gearbeitet, der für unser gesellschaftliches Zusammenleben unverzichtbar ist. Sie haben hingesehen und waren da, wo andere Hilfe suchen," Lies said verbatim.

Words of the Minister President

The Minister President stated that the citizens of the state were "im ganzen Land vereint" ("united across the entire country") in mourning, disbelief, and anger that such an act could have happened. "Es ist unerträglich, und es schmerzt uns alle," said Lies with reference to the incident in the middle of the day at a youth welfare facility.

Lies also addressed employees at youth welfare offices, youth welfare facilities, and social services, who according to his words currently go to work "mit einem anderen Gefühl" ("with a different feeling"). "Mit großer Verunsicherung? Mit Angst? Viele fragen sich, ob sie sind. Dieser Sorgen müssen wir uns annehmen," said the SPD politician.

"Es ist jetzt unser aller Aufgabe, dafür zu sorgen, dass diejenigen, die für andere Menschen da sind, mit dieser Verunsicherung nicht allein gelassen werden," Lies continued. He announced that he would advocate for greater security and support for youth welfare workers.

Mayor Provenzano: Humanity Must Prevail

Garbsen's Mayor Claudio Provenzano joined the call for solidarity. He said the act left him "sprachlos" ("speechless"). "Es gibt keine Wörter, um das in irgendeiner Weise zu erklären. Gerade wenn man die Familienangehörigen direkt vor sich hat," Provenzano stated.

According to Provenzano, two of the victims had worked at the Garbsen youth welfare facility. He said that the most important thing now was to stand by the families and support them. "Die Lösung darf nicht Gewalt sein. Die Menschlichkeit muss am Ende siegen," said the mayor.

According to police, approximately 350 people took part in a silent march of mourning. This was followed by a benefit concert. The proceeds from this event are to benefit the bereaved families and the youth welfare facility.

Silent March and Benefit Concert

In Stade itself, there had also been a silent memorial march in the afternoon, joined by many people according to police reports. This was likewise followed by a concert whose proceeds, according to the organizers – including the association "Abend fürs Leben" – are to go to the affected youth facility and the bereaved families.

In the attack on Monday in Stade, a 45-year-old man shot six people dead. Three of them were residents of the youth facility, and three others were employees of the Youth Welfare Office of the Hannover Region. According to investigators' findings, the three youth welfare office employees had been at the facility for an official meeting when they were killed.

Background and Investigations

The public prosecutor's office is classifying the acts as six counts of murder. According to the Lüneburg Police Directorate, the background was presumably a custody dispute. A statement said that "entsprechende Merkmale, insbesondere Heimtücke und niedere Beweggründe vor" ("corresponding characteristics, in particular perfidy and base motives") were present.

The alleged perpetrator is in pretrial detention. He also comes from Garbsen. According to the investigations, the shooting is said to be connected to a custody dispute over his young daughter.

Neighboring municipalities also reacted to the act. Burgdorf's Mayor Armin Pollehn stated that the events in Stade had "uns alle tief betroffen gemacht" ("deeply affected us all"). The city of Burgdorf announced that it would shortly improve the monitoring of access to an administrative building housing the youth welfare office, as well as the school and family/children's departments, through an adjusted access policy, without restricting contact with citizens.

Reactions from the Region

Pollehn pointed out that the need for security had increased among municipal employees. Once again, several speakers expressed concern that youth welfare professionals would have to continue their work unsettled by the impact of the act. The memorial service in Garbsen ended on Saturday morning after the intercessory prayers and addresses.

The coverage of the memorial service was broadcast on July 4, 2026 on the program of Deutschlandfunk. The nationwide participation in the memorial events in Stade and Garbsen, as well as the pledges of assistance from politicians and civil society, continued on the day of the memorial service. A continuing public mourning is, in the assessment of the organizers, also likely in the coming days.

No concrete information was available at the time of reporting about possible further memorial events or government support measures for the affected families and facilities. The public prosecutor's office and the Lüneburg Police Directorate declined to comment further on the ongoing investigation.