Crime & Public Safety
Two killed at school near Berlin; suspect arrested
Two people were killed at a secondary school in Gosen-Neu Zittau near Berlin on Thursday, and a 19-year-old German man was arrested, police said.
Police said they received several calls at around 1:45 pm local time about the incident at the school in Brandenburg state. Officers found two fatally injured people at the scene.
Police said the arrested German man was strongly suspected of being responsible. They said their current assessment was that the incident was linked to a relationship and was not a random act.
Maerkische Allgemeine Zeitung reported that the victims were an 18-year-old female student and a 30-year-old man. The newspaper, citing sources close to the investigation, said the suspect was the woman's ex-boyfriend and that the 30-year-old man was believed to have died while trying to intervene. It did not say whether a knife or another weapon was used.
Brandenburg regional parliament speaker Ulrike Liedtke called the incident a "cowardly femicide" and said she was shaken that a person who tried to help also lost his life. State premier Dietmar Woidke said a school had become the scene of an "unimaginable act of violence".
Images from streets near the school showed multiple emergency service vehicles. Two rescue helicopters were deployed.
Maerkische Allgemeine Zeitung reported that the private Docemus school said regular classes would be cancelled Friday, but that the campus would remain open for students who wanted to gather and receive support.
Update
Police said two fatally injured people were found at the school.
Police said a 19-year-old German man was arrested and was strongly suspected of being responsible.
Police said they received several calls about the incident at around 1:45 pm local time.
Police said they currently believe the incident was linked to a relationship and was not random.
Brandenburg officials issued public statements about the killings.
Source note: AFP news report published on 27 August 2026 at 16:20:17 UTC.
Update
The private Docemus school said regular classes would be cancelled Friday.
The school said it would remain open for students who wished to come to campus and receive support.
Source note: AFP news report published on 27 August 2026 at 15:11:02 UTC.
Update
Maerkische Allgemeine Zeitung reported that the arrested man was 19 and the ex-boyfriend of the 18-year-old victim.
The newspaper reported that the 30-year-old man died while trying to intervene.
The newspaper said it had not specified whether a weapon was used or whether anyone else was injured.
Images showed an ambulance and many emergency service vehicles near the school, and rescue helicopters were deployed.
Source note: AFP news report published on 27 August 2026 at 14:50:11 UTC.
Update
Local media reported the two dead were an 18-year-old female student and a 30-year-old man.
RBB and a local daily reported that an alarm had been triggered at a secondary school in Gosen-Neu Zittau.
Police confirmed they were at the scene and that a suspect had been arrested.
Source note: AFP news report published on 27 August 2026 at 14:26:38 UTC.
Uncertainty notes
The weapon used was not specified.
The exact relationship between the suspect and the victims has not been confirmed by police.
Police described their assessment of the motive as current, not final.
Source
AFP news report published on .