The man suspected of killing six people in a shooting at a youth welfare facility in northern Germany has been found dead in his prison cell.
Fatih Khan G., a 45-year-old German-born man of Turkish nationality, was found dead on Tuesday morning at Bremervörde prison near Stade, Lower Saxony. A doctor determined that he had died by strangulation.
Authorities said the initial investigation indicated suicide and found no evidence that anyone else was involved.
G. had been held in pre-trial detention since the June 29 shooting at a facility providing temporary accommodation for pregnant women and young mothers with children. He is suspected of killing six employees of the facility and the regional youth welfare office.
Investigators believe the shooting was connected to a custody dispute involving G.’s three-month-old daughter. The child and her mother were staying at the facility.
The suspect’s death brings the criminal investigation against him to an end, although authorities are continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding the shooting and the events leading up to it.
The case had already attracted wider attention because of the involvement of Sylvia S., a 65-year-old family and migration counsellor who reportedly drove G. away from the scene after the shooting. Police stopped the vehicle shortly afterwards.
S. is also the mother-in-law of Deniz Kurku, a Social Democratic Party (SPD) member of the Lower Saxony state parliament and the state’s Commissioner for Migration and Participation. Kurku has said that he had no prior knowledge of the attack and informed investigators and professional contacts about the family connection.
S. worked for a pro-migration organisation that advises on issues including family reunification, residence rights and naturalisation. The organisation received almost €900,000 in public funding from Germany’s “Live Democracy!” programme in 2025 and 2026, according to previous reporting.
Kurku’s political group has defended him, stressing that he had no connection to the crime and should not be held responsible for the actions of a relative.
G. had previously been the subject of investigations in Turkey, including over alleged sexual offences, according to German media reports. Turkish authorities had also reportedly investigated his escape from detention there.
Although G. was born in Germany, he was in the country illegally and had only Turkish citizenship.
The shooting was one of Germany’s deadliest mass killings in recent years. The six victims were all employees of the welfare and youth services involved in the custody case.
The CDU sharply attacked the Lower Saxony Minister of Justice Kathrin Wahlmann (SPD), noting that the suicide risk was known but monitoring was lifted nonetheless.
Der Spiegel reported that on the day of the killings, the man tried to shoot himself but had no more ammunition left to do so.
CDU politician Carina Hermann said the suspect should have been monitored around the clock.
There is an “accumulation of breakdowns and unexplainable processes” in the judicial department, she said, adding there was a “loss of control”.
