Attack on disabilities care clinic in Germany leaves four patients dead and a fifth person seriously injured

Four patients at a German care centre for the disabled have been killed and a fifth person seriously injured in the eastern city of Potsdam.

A 51-year-old woman, believed to be a member of staff at the Oberlin Clinic in Potsdam, near Berlin, has been arrested ‘under strong suspicion’ of carrying out the attack on Wednesday night, April 28.

Officers who responded to the attack at the clinic around 9pm, said the victims were subjected to “intense, extreme violent attack”, and were found in different rooms of the care home, but did not give any details around the circumstances of the killings.

The woman has been arrested on suspicion of ‘intentional homicide’, officers added, but said the motivation for the attack is not yet known.  

Prosecutors said forensic teams are now searching the site for evidence, but that no further details will be released until the families of the victims have been informed. 

The attack is thought to have taken place on the top floor of a dormitory building known as Thusnelda-von-Saldern-Haus, reports local newspaper Potsdamer Neueste Nachrichten.

The site called the attack ‘probably the most serious homicide in Potsdam for decades’, 

According to the Oberlin Clinic’s website, more than 400 staff work at the site including 80 employed at the Saldern-Haus, though most would not have been there at the time of the attack.

The Clinic specialises in helping those with disabilities, offering live-in care on a campus that includes housing, schools, and workshops.