A man killed his wife and three young children before taking his own life due to fears of his kids being taken away when a vaccine certificate forgery was discovered, reports say.
Cops found the husband and his wife, both 40, and three kids, aged four, eight and 10, dead after sustaining fatal gunshot wounds in Koenigs Wusterhausen, south of Berlin on Saturday.
In a note, the man said he had forged a vaccination certificate for his wife.
Her employer had found out, which lead the couple to fear they would be arrested and lose their kids, prosecutor Gernot Bantleon told Reuters.
Police responded to alerts raised by witnesses who saw lifeless bodies inside the house.
The 40-year-old father was not known to the police and the family were not involved with child protection agencies , Bantleon told the DPA news agency.
Initial reports said the family was in quarantine at the time of the incident, but the prosecutor refused to confirm.
He added the father's fears of his children being taken away were not supported by an event or indication of that being the case, MorgenPost reports.
It's currently unclear when the murder-suicide took place as Bantleon suggested it may have happened over several days.
An autopsy is currently underway and results will be ready in a matter days, he said.
The case comes as Germany has been tightening up restrictions to try to stem a fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic. From last month, employees have been required to show they are vaccinated, recovered or test negative for COVID-19.
Laws about preparing or submitting false vaccination certificates were also implemented two weeks ago.
The use of "incorrect health certificates" is now a criminal offence, with a maximum penalty of one year in prison.
German authorities agreed last week to bar the unvaccinated from access to all but the most essential businesses such as grocery stores, pharmacies and bakeries, and they also plan to make vaccination mandatory for some jobs.
Mental health professional Isabella Heuser, who works as a psychiatrist at a Berlin hospital, told DPA suspects in similar crimes often have serious mental conditions.
She listed delusional illness, depression, and also severe narcissistic or paranoid personality disorders as potential conditions.
She added that forensic psychiatrists will usually be involved in investigations into crimes of a similar nature.
