Six social workers were killed and several others wounded on Monday, 29 June, when a German citizen of Turkish origin opened fire during a meeting concerning custody of his three-month-old daughter at a mother-and-child welfare facility in Stade, Lower Saxony.
The 45-year-old suspect was arrested shortly afterwards. German outlets NDR and WDR reported that he belonged to the Miri clan, a major Lebanese–Syrian–Turkish extended-family network associated with organized crime in Germany. Police nevertheless stressed that the massacre appeared to be an isolated custody-related attack rather than a clan operation.
BREAKING:
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) June 29, 2026
The moment attacker being taken into custody after the deadly shooting in Stade, Germany 🇩🇪
The death toll has now risen to six. pic.twitter.com/LnNrEJbnkP
Several emergency calls reached police at around noon from the facility on Dankersstraße, which provides supervised accommodation for pregnant women and young mothers. Officers found four victims dead inside. A fifth died despite resuscitation attempts, while a sixth later died in hospital. The dead were four women and two men, all employees of the facility or the local youth welfare authority.
Investigators believe the suspect attended what German media described as a ‘help-plan meeting’ concerning his infant daughter. The child had reportedly been removed from the family before being returned to her mother under conditions requiring them to live at the Stade facility rather than at home in Hanover. Because the father was considered problematic, the meeting was reportedly attended by a larger group of staff.
The suspect was born in Germany, lives in the Hanover area, and was known to police, including in connection with alleged threats, but was not recorded as a violent offender. He did not possess a firearms licence. Investigators were still determining how he obtained the weapon and whether more than one firearm was used.
After the shooting, he fled in a grey Mercedes driven by a 65-year-old woman said to have close ties to his family. Police fired at the vehicle to stop it and arrested both occupants. Officers recovered a weapon from the car. The child’s 34-year-old mother was also taken into custody for questioning, while the unharmed infant was placed in the care of youth welfare authorities.
The Miri clan, to which media reports link the suspect, is a large Mhallami—an Arabic ethnic group—extended-family network whose historical roots lie around Mardin in south-eastern Türkiye. Many branches reached Germany through Lebanon during the 1980s, establishing communities in Bremen, Lower Saxony, and North Rhine-Westphalia. The clan is notoriously involved in organized crime and has been investigated for drug trafficking, weapons offences, extortion, money laundering, and violent crime over the past decades.
One of the family’s best-known figures, Ibrahim Miri, accumulated 19 convictions before being deported to Lebanon in 2019. He subsequently returned illegally and was deported again. Investigations based on decrypted EncroChat communications have also targeted an alleged Miri cocaine network centred in Dortmund.
‘The clan is notoriously involved in organized crime’
Stade has previously witnessed violence involving the Miri and Al-Zein families, another large Mhallami network. A 2024 dispute linked to competing shisha businesses escalated into attacks, drive-by shootings, and a street fight in which a member of the Al-Zein clan was fatally stabbed in the head. A Miri family member was later prosecuted in connection with the killing.
Police continue to investigate the exact circumstances of the massacre while maintaining that the shooting was an isolated act stemming from a custody dispute and was not linked to organized crime or clan activities. However, according to The Times, Stade police chief Kathrin Schuol confirmed that the suspect was affiliated with the Miri network.
Related articles:
At a time when public debate is increasingly polarized and superficial, Hungarian Conservative remains committed to depth, intellectual honesty, and independent conservative thought.
Producing high-quality journalism requires resources. Your contribution helps us expand our coverage, reach new audiences, and keep our content accessible.
Please consider supporting our mission.
