A 45-year-old German man of Turkish descent opened fire at a mother-and-baby centre in Stade, near Hamburg, on Monday. Six people were killed in the attack.
All four women and two men who died worked at the residence. Police say a custody dispute over the suspect's three-month-old child triggered the violence.
The child was living at the shelter with its mother when the shooting occurred. Lüneburg police confirmed the shooter had an appointment scheduled at the facility.
Authorities also arrested a 65-year-old woman described as having close ties to the perpetrator's family. She allegedly drove the getaway vehicle used to flee the scene.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed shock at the bloodshed. "Violence in a place meant to provide protection is deeply disturbing," he said in a statement.
This marks another mass shooting in Germany this year. In January, a family dispute in a Berlin apartment left four people wounded by gunfire.
February saw a murder-suicide in Strullendorf, Bavaria, where a man shot his wife and two children before killing himself. Such incidents remain rare but devastating when they occur.
