Production at this Mercedes-Benz plant was halted and the shooter was detained
So yesterday on 11 May 2023, a shooting took place at a Mercedes-Benz production plant in the city of Sindelfingen in southwestern Germany which left two confirmed dead and led to mounting pressure on Berlin to tighten the country’s gun laws.
The local police have already arrested the suspect, a 53-year-old Turkish citizen, who opened fire on the victims at the site some 17 km (10.6 miles) southwest of Stuttgart, before security personnel on the site held him down and handed him over to authorities, police and the local prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
Moreover, the authorities also confirmed that both victims, who were 44 years of age, succumbed to their injuries and passed after. A spokesperson from Mercedes-Benz also mentioned that production at one of the company’s factory halls in Sindelfingen was suspended until the end of the week as a result.
The spokesperson, talking about Sindelfingen, where the company’s flagship S-Class luxury sedan is produced, also stated, “Otherwise, operations in the plant continue on schedule.” This is honestly impressive and shows the commitment and work ethic of Mercedes-Benz as well as the brand’s “the show must go on” mentality.
Mercedes-Benz said that the gunman and victims belonged to an external services provider. The brand did not provide further details and this 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.
On top of that, the German government had also vowed to tighten its gun laws further after a gunman opened fire on people gathered at a Jehovah’s Witnesses hall in Hamburg in March, killing six.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser had said after that attack that the government would revisit its arms laws. The Social Democrats, her party and that of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, have been pushing for tougher restrictions, and the police union of Germany also called for a swift legislative response to restrict the number of guns available.
“We are deeply shocked and saddened by the tragic news,” Mercedes-Benz said in a statement, adding there was no longer any danger to the local population or workers at the plant.
The Mercedes-Benz production plant, which includes a workforce 35,000 strong, was evacuated following the shooting, which took place after the suspect entered the site at 7:45 a.m. (0545 GMT), police and the Stuttgart prosecutor said.
Germany has already outlawed certain large magazines in 2020 and conducts checks on gun owners and according to government data, there are over 940,000 registered private gun owners in Germany, which has a population of 84 million people.
We got all this from Yahoo! Sports and their full article is linked here. Thank you Yahoo! News for the information.
