euronews published May 11, 2023 Two dead and more injured after shooting at German Mercedes factory near Stuttgart. A man opened fire at a Mercedes-Benz factory in southwestern Germany on Thursday, leaving two people dead, the company said.
DW, Germany
written by Richard Connor
Thursday May 11, 2023
Two people were killed in a shooting when a man opened fire at a Mercedes-Benz plant in southwestern Germany. A suspect has been taken into custody, police said.
A large-scale emergency operation was underway following a shooting that left two people dead at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Sindelfingen on Thursday morning.
A special operations team sealed off the site with a full-scale deployment including two helicopters and several emergency doctors.
The Public Prosecutor's Office in the nearby city of Stuttgart said it thought a single perpetrator was responsible for the shooting that killed two 44-year-old men.
The shots were believed to have been fired at a production line team leader, with the arrested suspect being a 53-year-old external worker from a logistics firm.
Staff overpowered the suspected perpetrator, detaining him until police arrived, officials said.
What we know so far
Multiple shots were reportedly fired at about 7:45 a.m. local time (0545 GMT/UTC).
Police tweeted about an hour later that an operation involving police and rescue workers was ongoing on the factory complex, some 15 kilometers (just under 10 miles) southwest of Stuttgart. Authorities confirmed a suspect had been taken into custody.
Emergency services were said to have carried out a search of the building looking for other injured people.
Employees reported that the scene was the automaker's Factory 56, where the firm's flagship S-Class vehicle is produced.
Police are still gathering information, a spokesperson said, and staff are being provided with psychological support.
Mercedes-Benz expressed dismay over the incident. "The tragic news from Sindelfingen has deeply shocked us," a company spokesman said, adding, "Our thoughts are with the victims, their families and all colleagues on site."
Recent fatal shootings in Germany have sparked a debate over implementing stricter gun laws in the country. The German government said it would revisit firearms laws in the wake of a shooting in March in Hamburg where a gunman killed six people at a Jehovah's Witness hall.
I added the map to this news.
BBC News, UK
written by Staff
Thursday May 11, 2023
Two people have been killed in a shooting at a Mercedes-Benz factory in south-western Germany, police said.
A 53-year-old man entered the production hall at the plant in Sindelfingen and opened fire, shooting two 44-year-old men.
One of the victims died at the scene, the other died later in hospital. No one else was hurt.
Security staff detained the suspect and handed him to officers who arrested him without resistance, police said.
The incident happened at about 07:45 local time (05:45 GMT), police in the city of Ludwigsburg said.
"We are deeply shocked and saddened by the tragic news from Sindelfingen this morning. Our thoughts are with the victims, their families and all colleagues on site," Mercedes-Benz said in a statement.
Mercedes-Benz produces its S-Class luxury model at the Sindelfingen plant, which employs about 35,000 people.
The firm said the people involved in the shooting had been employed by an external service provider.
The Stuttgart prosecutor's office said there was a single perpetrator and no one outside the factory was involved.
There was no danger to the public, police said.
Germany has some of the strictest gun laws in Europe and authorities say they are planning to tighten them further.
In March a shooting at a Jehovah's Witnesses meeting hall in Hamburg claimed seven lives, including that of an unborn child.
Authorities were also alarmed by a suspected plot to overthrow the government, which led to mass arrests in December.
Current laws require anyone aged under 25 to pass a psychological evaluation before getting a gun licence.
In 2021, there were around one million private gun owners in Germany, according to the National Firearms Registry. They account for 5.7 million legal firearms and firearm parts, most of them owned by hunters.
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