A large-scale emergency operation was underway following a shooting that left two people dead at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Sindelfingen on Thursday morning.

A special operations team sealed off the site with a full-scale deployment including two helicopters and several emergency doctors.

The Public Prosecutor's Office in the nearby city of Stuttgart said it thought a single perpetrator was responsible for the shooting that killed two 44-year-old men. 

The shots were believed to have been fired at a production line team leader, with the arrested suspect being a 53-year-old external worker from a logistics firm. 

Staff overpowered the suspected perpetrator, detaining him until police arrived, officials said. 

What we know so far

Multiple shots were reportedly fired at about 7:45 a.m. local time (0545 GMT/UTC).

Police tweeted about an hour later that an operation involving police and rescue workers was ongoing on the factory complex, some 15 kilometers (just under 10 miles) southwest of Stuttgart. Authorities confirmed a suspect had been taken into custody.

Emergency services were said to have carried out a search of the building looking for other injured people.

Employees reported that the scene was the automaker's Factory 56, where the firm's flagship S-Class vehicle is produced.

Police are still gathering information, a spokesperson said, and staff are being provided with psychological support. 

Mercedes-Benz expressed dismay over the incident. "The tragic news from Sindelfingen has deeply shocked us," a company spokesman said, adding, "Our thoughts are with the victims, their families and all colleagues on site."

Recent fatal shootings in Germany have sparked a debate over implementing stricter gun laws in the country. The German government said it would revisit firearms laws in the wake of a shooting in March in Hamburg where a gunman killed six people at a Jehovah's Witness hall.

Edited by: Sean Sinico