Authorities are attempting to determine the motive of an employee of a mechanical engineering company who shot dead two coworkers and critically wounded a third on Tuesday evening.
The 52-year-old suspect, a German national, is accused of entering the premises in the town of Bad Friedrichshall, 60 miles south of Frankfurt, and opening fire.
The fatalities were brothers aged 49 and 44.
The suspect was arrested in Seckach, 18 miles to the north, following an hours-long manhunt.
He was a member of a shooting club and had a license for the firearm used in the attack.
He is refusing to speak to investigators.
Twenty-five of the family-owned company’s approximately 400 employees were present at the time of the attack.
Deadly working place shootings are relatively uncommon in Germany due in part to its strict gun laws. But incidents do occur.
A worker with an external logistics provider shot and fatally wounded two colleagues at a Mercedes-Benz factory near Stuttgart at 0745 on 11 May 2023.
The 53-year-old assailant did not resist as security guards pinned him down and restrained him until police arrived at the plant in Sindelfingen.
The victims, both 44, worked for the same external logistics provider, suggesting he held a grudge against them or managers of that entity.
The sprawling factory’s 35,000 workers were evacuated after the attack.
Preventing workplace violence is a challenge for corporate managers, who should do their best to ensure that access controls are up to spec and to assess the propensity of disgruntled employees and aggrieved or unbalanced persons to take violent action.
