Suspect arrested

Shots fired at German company: two men dead

Emergency services stand near the scene of the crime.

(Bild: AFP/Pascal Hoefig/NEWS5, Krone KREATIV)

On Tuesday evening, two men were fatally shot and a third critically injured in a mechanical engineering company in Bad Friedrichshall in the north of the German state of Baden-Württemberg.

A suspect has been arrested following the fatal shootings. He was arrested late in the evening, according to the police in Stuttgart. According to initial findings, the 52-year-old German is an employee of the company where the crime took place. The police did not provide any further details. Investigations into the background are continuing.

The 52-year-old is said to have entered a mechanical engineering company in Bad Friedrichshall at around 5.45 p.m. wearing a mask and fired shots. Two men died, a third man was critically injured. According to the police, his life was still in danger in the evening. Investigators spent hours searching for the fugitive.

Victims are employees of the company
According to initial findings by the police, the victims are employees of the company. Other employees were on site during the crime, the investigators said. They were taken out of the building and questioned by the police, a spokeswoman said, without giving details of the number of employees present at the time of the crime. No shots were fired by the police. 

The police wrote on the X platform (formerly Twitter) that a major police operation was currently underway. It was stated that there was currently no danger to the public (see post below).

The police were on site with a large contingent. A special task force (SEK) and a police helicopter were also deployed. A homicide squad took over the investigation. Forensics were also deployed. Among other things, they are investigating how many shots were fired by the perpetrator.

Company is a major employer in the region
The company in question produces gear wheels. It is family-owned and, by its own account, part of a manufacturer of storage and organization systems. The company has been manufacturing precision gears for more than five decades.

Mayor Timo Frey (CDU) expressed his dismay. The company is well-known in the region and is a major employer, he told the German Press Agency. He estimated that up to 400 people worked for the company. He was initially unable to provide any further information.

Bad Friedrichshall has around 20,000 inhabitants and is located in the district of Heilbronn in the north of Baden-Württemberg. The town is part of the so-called European metropolitan region of Stuttgart. After Neckarsulm, Eppingen and Bad Rappenau, Bad Friedrichshall is the fourth largest town in the district.