Several people have been killed in a shooting in the northern German city of Stade on Monday, police told AFP, with media reports saying five died.
Two people have been detained after a shooting, including a suspected shooter, a police spokesperson said, adding that no other suspects were at large.
The motive is currently unclear, they added.
Local public broadcaster NDR and tabloid Bild gave a death toll of five.
Some reports said the shooting took place in a youth centre in central Stade, a town of just below 50,000 people to the west of Hamburg.
Some reports referred to multiple suspects, but police did not immediately confirm this.
Police said a major operation was under way in central Stade, a city of about 50,000 people, on the Elbe River, 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Hamburg.
"We ask you to leave the area and give it a wide berth for your own safety," they said in a post on X.
