Suspected perpetrator from Stade found dead in pre-trial detention

Crime in Stade and alleged motive

The 45-year-old is alleged to have shot and killed six employees of the facility and the youth welfare office at a youth welfare facility in Stade during a so-called care planning meeting three weeks ago. According to previous findings, the victims were staff members of the facility as well as employees of the youth welfare office.

According to investigators' findings, the background to the crime was allegedly a custody dispute. The suspect's three-month-old daughter and the 34-year-old mother of the child had been housed at the facility. The facility is a youth welfare facility with mother-and-child apartments.

After the crime, the man was apprehended while fleeing shortly afterward and had been in pre-trial detention ever since. The public prosecutor's office had requested an arrest warrant on charges of murder in six cases. In addition, an outstanding arrest warrant from Turkey had been issued against the 45-year-old at the time of the crime.

The families of the victims as well as relatives of the suspect were informed of his death. The Lower Saxony Ministry of Justice expressed its sympathy to the bereaved of those killed and also pointed to support services for people in acute crises.

Arrest warrant from abroad

The crime three weeks ago had triggered nationwide dismay. Politicians as well as representatives of child and youth welfare subsequently called for a review of the case and an examination of security concepts at youth welfare facilities.

At the center of the investigations is the question of how the act of violence could have occurred in an environment intended as a place of protection. The youth welfare facility in Stade, which houses mother-and-child apartments, was designed as a particularly vulnerable location, according to earlier information.

After the shooting became known, the public prosecutor's office had investigated, among other things, a possible custody dispute. Investigators assumed that the man may have acted out of desperation over the loss of custody of his daughter.

Parallel to the ongoing investigations, it became known that an international arrest warrant from Turkey had been issued against the man. Details of the Turkish proceedings were initially not made public by the Lower Saxony authorities.

Ongoing investigations and consequences

The management of Bremervörde Prison referred to initiated investigations into the circumstances of the death in the cell. In such cases, a report to the public prosecutor's office as well as an internal review is customary.

The exact cause of death is also the subject of ongoing investigations. Although investigators are assuming suicide, all possibilities are to be examined. A forensic medical examination was ordered.

With the death of the suspect, the criminal proceedings against him come to an end as far as the shooting in Stade is concerned. However, civil law questions and possible claims by relatives of the victims remain unaffected.

Support services for those affected

Psychological support for survivors, relatives, and employees of the facility continues according to aid organizations. Specialized victim support centers offer the bereaved conversations and long-term assistance.

In Germany, the telephone counseling service can be reached free of charge around the clock at 0800-111 0 111 or 0800-111 0 222. For children and adolescents, the children and youth helpline is available at 0800-111 0 333 or 116 111. The information line of the German Depression Aid Foundation can be reached at 0800 33 44 533.

In cases of acute risk of suicide, the Deutsche Depressionshilfe advises calling the emergency number 112, going to a psychiatric clinic, or contacting attending physicians or psychotherapists.