A 53 year old man has opened fire at a Mercedes-Benz plant in the city of Sindelfingen Germany, killing two and causing a halt in production.
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The shooting at the car plant in southwestern Germany, some 17km southwest of Stuttgart where the company’s flagship S-Class luxury sedan is produced happened on Thursday.
The suspect opened fire on the victims before security workers at the site held him down and handed him over to authorities, police and the local prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
Both victims, 44 years, died on their injuries, the statement added.
Production at one of the company’s factory halls in Sindelfingen was suspended until the end of the week, a Mercedes-Benz spokesperson said.
“Otherwise, operations in the plant continue on schedule,” the spokesperson said of Sindelfingen, where the company’s flagship S-Class luxury sedan is produced.
The gunman and the two victims belonged to an external services provider, Mercedes said, without providing further details on their roles.
Reuters reported that the shooting happened amidst mounting pressure on Berlin to tighten the country’s already-strict gun laws.
The incident was the latest of a number of mass shootings in Germany in recent years, many of which had a connection with extremism. Investigators have yet to establish a motive for Thursday’s shooting.
Nnamdi Maduakor is a Writer, Investor and Entrepreneur
