Three people were killed and eight others injured after a man attacked festival-goers with a knife in the western German city of Solingen on Friday.
The attacker stabbed several passers-by at random during the celebration in the streets of the city centre. The dead are two men, aged 56 and 67, and a 56-year-old woman.
The attacker fled the scene and shortly after the police began a search operation to locate him with police helicopters flying over the city.
German police reported on Saturday that a 15 year old boy has been arrested in connection with the case and said the suspect’s motives are still unknown, but a terrorist motive has not been ruled out.
At a press conference, local police chief Markus Röhrl refused to give any further information about the suspect and confirmed that he would not publish any photos of him.
He said the situation at the festival after the attack was “very hectic” which made it difficult to find the attacker.
A man was later reported detained at a refugee compound near the site of the attack, but no details were given of the man arrested.
Asked about reports that the attacker had pointed the knife at the victims’ throats, police confirmed the perpetrator was aiming for the victims’ throats and necks.
The group Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack on Saturday but did not immediately provide any evidence.
“Shocked, scared and very sad”
The attack It happened at around 9:45 p.m. local time during the festival commemorating 650 years of Solingen.
A witness to the incident named Lars Breitzke told a local newspaper that he knew something was wrong when he saw a singer on stage with a strange expression on his face.
“And then A person fell just one meter away from me“Yes,” he explained.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz tweeted on Saturday that the suspect in the attack should be “punished to the fullest extent of the law.”
He added that the incident had “shocked him enormously.”
Mayor Tim Kurzbach also addressed the attack overnight, offering his “deepest condolences” to the victims and “everyone who had to witness this.”
“Tonight we are all in Solingen shocked, scared and very sad (…) My eyes fill with tears when I think of the people we have lost. I pray for all those who are still fighting for their lives.”
Solingen, a city in North Rhine-Westphalia famous for its steel industry, has around 160,000 inhabitants. It is located about 25 km east of Düsseldorf and northeast of Cologne.
The Solingen Festival
The place where the attack took place is a square known as Fronhof, located in the centre of the city. At the time, musical acts were performing.
It is close to several restaurants along a wide street and is located near a shopping center.
The attack occurred as the city was commemorating its 650th anniversary with a celebration called Festival of Diversity.
German newspaper Bild, citing event organisers, said the celebrations, which have now been cancelled, were due to run until Sunday and were expected to attract some 80,000 visitors over three days.
Speaking to the BBC, the newspaper’s deputy editor Solinger Tageblatt, Björn Boch said that at the time of the attack “the city was full of people”estimating that “a few thousand people” attended Friday’s free event.
Ban certain edged weapons
This latest stabbing incident comes just over a week since the German Interior Minister called for tougher measures against knife crime.
Earlier this month, Nancy Faeser said Germany needs “stricter gun laws and stricter controls” to prevent stabbing incidents. “Knives are used to commit brutal acts of violence that can cause serious injury or death,” she told public broadcaster ARD.
He called for the law to be changed so that only knives with very short blades would be allowed in public.
At the moment, In Germany it is permitted to carry knives with a blade length of 12 cm in public..
Faeser wants this to be reduced to 6 centimetres and a complete ban on switchblades – a pocket knife with a spring-loaded retractable blade.
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