A 26-year-old man is suspected of a Stabbing bloodbath in western German metropolis of Solingen He was taken into police custody, Der Spiegel and different media reported Saturday night, about 24 hours after the assault that killed three individuals.
Police declined to right away remark.
He The Islamic State group beforehand claimed duty for the knife assault on Friday wherein eight individuals have been additionally injured.
On Saturday, police had additionally introduced that they’d arrested a second man in a police operation at a refugee shelter in Solingen. Police mentioned they might not present additional particulars in regards to the particular person or his connection to the incident.
Police additionally arrested a youngster they mentioned could possibly be linked to the assault, however mentioned the perpetrator was nonetheless at massive.
Describing the person who carried out the assault as an “Islamic State soldier”, the militant group mentioned in a press release on its Telegram account: “He carried out the assault in revenge for Muslims in Palestine and all over the place.”
He didn’t instantly present any proof for his declare and it was not clear how shut the attacker’s relationship was to the Islamic State.
Hendrik Wuest, the prime minister of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, has described the assault on Friday night throughout a pageant within the metropolis as an act of terrorism.
“This assault has struck on the coronary heart of our nation,” Wuest informed reporters.
Inside Minister Nancy Faeser mentioned authorities have been doing the whole lot potential to catch the attacker.
Police spent the day conducting a search. {The teenager} arrested was a 15-year-old boy whom police have been investigating for a potential hyperlink to the attacker.
The assault occurred in Fronhof, a market sq. within the western German metropolis the place bands have been performing dwell as a part of a pageant marking its 650th anniversary.
Markus Caspers, an official on the Düsseldorf public prosecutor’s workplace, mentioned authorities have been treating the assault as a potential terrorist incident as a result of there was no different recognized motive and the victims didn’t seem like associated.
Police officer Thorsten Fleiss mentioned the attacker seemed to be aiming for his victims’ throats.
“The perpetrator should be caught rapidly and punished to the total extent of the legislation,” Chancellor Olaf Scholz mentioned in a submit on X.
Police cordoned off the sq. on Saturday and passers-by positioned candles and flowers exterior the boundaries.
“We’re very shocked and saddened,” Solingen Mayor Tim-Oliver Kurzbach informed reporters.
A German musician often called Subject mentioned he was taking part in on a close-by stage when the incident occurred. He was knowledgeable of what occurred however requested to proceed taking part in “to keep away from inflicting a mass panic assault,” he posted on Instagram.
He was ultimately ordered to cease and “because the attacker was nonetheless at massive, we hid in a close-by retailer as police helicopters hovered overhead,” Subject wrote.
Authorities have cancelled the rest of the weekend’s pageant.
In Germany, deadly stabbings and shootings are comparatively uncommon. The federal government introduced earlier this month that it needed to tighten guidelines on knives that may be carried in public by decreasing the utmost permitted size.
In June, a 29-year-old police officer was fatally stabbed in Mannheim throughout an assault on a right-wing demonstration. In 2021, a stabbing on a prepare left a number of individuals injured.
North Rhine-Westphalia’s Inside Minister Herbert Reul visited the scene of the assault in Solingen on Saturday morning and informed reporters that it was an assault on human life.
Solingen, recognized for its knife-making trade, is a metropolis of about 165,000 inhabitants.
The episode comes forward of three state elections subsequent month in Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg, which the far-right anti-immigrant Different for Germany (AfD) celebration is prone to win.
Though neither the motive nor the identification of the attacker is understood, a number one AfD candidate for one of many regional elections, Bjoern Hoecke, took benefit of Friday’s assault and posted on X: “Do you actually wish to get used to this? Break away and put an finish to this insanity of pressured multiculturalism.”
