Two dead after shots on Mercedes factory premises – 53-year-old in custody
“The shooter probably went to the team leaders’ offices on purpose”
At least two people died when shots were fired at the Mercedes factory premises in Sindelfingen. A police special task force cordoned off the site. WELT reporter Anna-Marleen Howe is on site.
Two people from subcontractors were killed by shots at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Sindelfingen. The police arrested a 53-year-old who was overwhelmed by plant security staff. The background is still unclear.
Dhe horror is written all over the faces of many employees after the deadly shots at the Mercedes plant in Sindelfingen. Hundreds of them leave the scene of the crime through gate 5, either silently or at best whispering softly. Some of them witnessed the act of violence in Hall 56 early Thursday morning while production was running. A 53-year-old is said to have shot, two employees of a subcontractor – both 44 years old – died.
At first there was talk of one dead and one seriously injured. In the course of the morning it became known that the second person also succumbed to his injuries. The police took over the investigation. The dead are employees of the Rhenus company, said a spokeswoman for the logistics service provider. Three permanent employees were involved in the incident.
“I heard the shots, thought a pallet fell. Then someone came running excitedly and said that there had been a shot. We all had to get out – and the company sent us home,” said an employee of the “Bild” newspaper. The newspaper quoted a colleague of the suspect as saying: “The guy is said to have fired his entire magazine empty. He hasn’t been with us long, a year at most.”
According to a Mercedes-Benz spokesman, the alleged shooter was also employed by the subcontractor. “We assume that it is a single perpetrator and that no other people outside the plant are involved,” said the public prosecutor. The police ruled out a killing spree. The suspected murder weapon was seized. The investigators initially kept a low profile on the type of firearm and the number of shots fired.
Around 35,000 people work at the Sindelfingen site
Source: Getty Images/Christian Kaspar-Bartke
According to police, the shooter opened fire around 7:45 a.m. while production was running. Plant security employees overwhelmed him. They held the 53-year-old in the hall and handed him over to the police, officials said. The suspect was arrested without resistance and is to be brought before the magistrate on Thursday.
Investigators say it’s still unclear why the suspect fired. A police spokesman was initially unable to provide any information on whether the 53-year-old and the two 44-year-old victims who were killed knew each other.
The suspect was taken into custody. The investigators accuse the 53-year-old Turk of manslaughter in two cases, as announced by the public prosecutor and the police on Thursday.
According to information from WELT from police circles, the suspect is said to be an opponent of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The two fatalities are also Turkish citizens. However, it is unclear whether the act was politically motivated. Elections will take place in Turkey on Sunday.
The police arrived with a large contingent on site, also to question the numerous witnesses. The arrested suspect should also be questioned about the crime and motive. After the crime, numerous employees received psychological care from emergency chaplains – others were sent home.
“The tape does not continue as normal”
The affected plant is “Factory 56”, where the S-Class is also produced. The employees of the affected Hall 56 have now left the factory premises, as announced by Mercedes-Benz and the police. According to the police, they are being looked after psychologically.
Mercedes-Benz was dismayed by the crime. “The tragic news from Sindelfingen shocked us deeply,” said a company spokesman. “Our thoughts are with the victims, their relatives and all colleagues on site.” The employees in the affected hall had left the factory premises. “So at the moment the tape is not running as normal,” said the spokesman.
The police were in large numbers at the Mercedes plant in Sindelfingen
Source: dpa/Julian Rettig
According to the group, production in the affected hall will be suspended until the end of the week. The rest of the work continues. The incident should be analyzed comprehensively, if necessary, “appropriate measures” followed.
The shots are a second violent attack at Mercedes-Benz in Sindelfingen within a short period of time. Last year, the police said they were able to stop an attacker with one shot before anything worse happened.
In February 2022, a driver with a minibus broke through a barrier at the plant and accelerated. A curb and a traffic island ended the frenzy, and the then 61-year-old wanted to flee on foot. Dozens of police officers then cordoned off the factory premises and stopped the suspect. The man said he threatened the officers with a folding knife until a police officer shot the 61-year-old in the leg. According to investigators, the man was then in a psychiatric facility.
Sindelfingen is near Stuttgart in the Böblingen district. According to the company, the Mercedes-Benz location, with a history spanning more than a hundred years, is the Mercedes-Benz Group AG vehicle plant with the longest tradition. Vehicles in the upper and luxury classes are produced in Sindelfingen, including the Mercedes S-Class and Mercedes-Maybach S-Class. Around 35,000 employees work at the site.