The 45-year-old German-born man of Turkish nationality suspected of shooting dead six employees at a mother-and-child welfare facility in Stade on June 29 had a criminal history involving sexual offences and had previously escaped from detention in Turkey, according to German media reports.
The man, identified as Fatih Khan G. from Garbsen, near Hanover, opened fire during a scheduled appointment related to a custody dispute over his three-month-old daughter at the youth welfare centre.
All six victims, four women and two men, were staff members. Three worked at the facility and three were employees of the Hanover youth welfare office (Jugendamt), according to public broadcaster Deutschlandfunk. The infant and her mother were unharmed.
The suspect was arrested shortly afterwards along with a female companion who was driving the getaway vehicle.
Investigations by Bild revealed that authorities had previously examined the suspect in connection with possible child mistreatment, including allegations of shaken baby syndrome involving his infant daughter.
He also faced probes for sexual offences. According to Bild, which cited Turkish judicial records, in 2021 he had escaped from pre-trial detention for another offence in Turkey and has since been wanted there.
Excerpts from the Turkish judicial system UYAP (the National Judiciary Informatics System) document proceedings against him connect him to alleged sexual abuse in 2007 and suspicion of sexual abuse of his daughter from a previous relationship in 2022. The alleged abuse of the daughter is said to have taken place on June 9, 2022 in Gaziantep, with the case heard at the second criminal court in Kahramanmaraş, according to Bild.
According to Bild, the Stade public prosecutor’s office said it had no knowledge of possible crimes committed by the accused in Turkey.
The exchange between German and Turkish investigative authorities is considered difficult, Welt reported.
The public prosecutor’s office declined to comment on further questions from German media and referred to ongoing investigations.
The female companion, identified as 65-year-old Sylvia S. from Bremen, worked as a family and migration counsellor for a state-funded pro-migration NGO.
She reportedly drove the suspect both to the custody meeting and away from the scene after the attack in a grey Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupé.
Police stopped the vehicle after a short pursuit by shooting out its tyres. Neither occupant was injured in the stop. The 45-year-old is reported to have bought the pistol in Berlin for about €4,000 and did not hold a firearms licence.
Sylvia S. turns out to be the mother-in-law of Lower Saxony Social Democratic Party (SPD) state parliamentarian Deniz Kurku.
He is the Lower Saxony State Commissioner for Migration and Participation, a post he has held since 2022.
Kurku has publicly confirmed the family connection through his lawyer, saying he informed investigators and professional contacts as soon as he learned of it from media reports. He has expressed condolences to the victims’ families and, according to his statement, had no prior knowledge of the crime.
Kurku also receives support within the SPD, Apollo News reported.
The parliamentary group chairman Stefan Politze said that the parliamentary group “stands clearly and unreservedly at the side of Deniz Kurku”. In the statement, Kurku is described as a reliable and honest member of parliament who has been committed to his work for years. Politze stressed that Kurku had no connection to the crime and that no political or personal responsibility arose from the actions of a relative.
The parliamentary group rejected sweeping accusations against relatives without involvement in the crime as inappropriate.
On March 11, 2025, Kurku wrote a formal recommendation letter strongly supporting an application by the association “Integrationsarbeit Kronsberg e.V.” for funding of an additional staff position.
The association, which has received around €1.2 million in public funding, filed for insolvency in spring 2026 and is at the centre of a subsidy-fraud inquiry.
Both the suspect and Sylvia S. were taken into custody after the attack. An arrest warrant was issued against the 45-year-old on June 30; as of the latest reporting, prosecutors had not sought one against Sylvia S. Prosecutors are treating the attack as six counts of murder, citing the murder qualifiers of treachery (Heimtücke) and base motives (niedere Beweggründe) in the custody context.
Germany has maintained open policies toward certain migrants and asylum seekers in recent years, even as public concern over crime, welfare strain and parallel societies has grown.
The shooting highlights gaps in vetting, monitoring and deportation of migrants.
The involvement of a migration activist and family counsellor as the getaway driver, who is connected to a sitting SPD state MP, has also raised questions about potential conflicts of interest in the social services sector.
