Germany shooting suspect accused of shaking three-month-old daughter: Reports

STADE, Germany - A custody dispute that investigators suspect prompted a gunman to shoot dead six child welfare workers in Germany was linked to allegations he had shaken his three-month-old daughter, German media reported on June 30.

Four women and two men were killed in the shooting on June 29 at a shelter for mothers and their children in the northern town of Stade, in one of the deadliest such incidents in Germany in recent times.

Police said the suspect, a Turkish national born in Germany, had an appointment at the centre to discuss future care arrangements for his daughter.

According to a statement from local prosecutors the suspect came to the appointment and then “suddenly fired at the staff with the firearm he had brought with him, intending to kill them.”

He will be kept in custody on suspicion of six counts of murder.

Five of the victims died at the scene with the sixth dying later in hospital.

Both the child and her mother were present at the location but were not injured.

Prosecutors said that two women who had initially been detained in connection with the case have been released.

Citing unnamed sources, Der Spiegel magazine reported on June 30 that the suspect had been accused of shaking the three-month-old baby and doctors had identified injuries consistent with this.

Der Spiegel named the suspect as 45-year-old Fatih Khan G. and said the mother, 34, was being housed with her child at the centre in Stade before the incident.

Die Welt daily also reported that the suspect had made threats towards doctors at a medical centre where the baby had been treated.

He had appeared in an “extremely aggressive state” and warned doctors that “should anything happen to his child in the clinic, he would hold those responsible to account”, Die Welt said.

An investigation was launched into his behaviour but later dropped, the report said.

Police had said on June 29 that the suspect was known to them, including for making threats, but had “not previously been regarded as a particularly violent individual”.

Police were not available for comment when contacted by AFP on June 30.

Several hundred people turned out for a service of remembrance for the victims on the evening of June 30 at the St Wilhadi Church in Stade, the NDR broadcaster reported, with many bringing flowers and lighting candles. AFP