A 45-year-old man in an apparent child custody dispute was the suspected shooter at a shelter for mothers and children in northern Germany that left six dead on Monday, officials said.

The man ​had an appointment at the shelter in Stade, close to the port ​city of Hamburg, earlier on Monday before opening fire midday, they said.

All ⁠the victims - four women and two men - were employees of the facility. The ​man's three-month-old daughter and the mother are safe.

The alleged shooter, the mother, and another ​female are in custody, officials said.

"I'm deeply shocked by the extent of violence in a place that is meant to provide protection," said German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Mass shootings are rare in Germany, ​especially when compared to the United States. In 2023, a gunman in Hamburg shot ​dead six people before killing himself at a Jehovah's Witness worship hall. In 2016, an 18-year-old ‌German-Iranian ⁠man who was obsessed with mass killings killed at least nine people in Munich.

Police had warned people to stay away from the area where the incident took place, but later said there was no danger to the general public.

Police cordoned off the ​area near the facility ​in a cobbled ⁠street with red brick homes, and forensic experts in white suits and plainclothes police were at the scene. Police were still ​collecting evidence on Monday evening.

Five of the victims died at ​the scene. ⁠The sixth died in hospital.

Footage released by the Bild newspaper showed police surrounding and detaining two people from a car that was driving down a road with a flat ⁠tyre.

The suspected ​shooter lives in the Hannover area, was born ​in Germany and has Turkish roots, officials said.

-Reuters