Three dead in knife attack What is known about the attack in Solingen - and what is not known
The attacker killed three people and seriously injured five others. His motive is still unknown.
Image: dpa
The police are searching for the perpetrator with a large contingent.
Image: dpa
The attacker killed three people and seriously injured five others. His motive is still unknown.
Image: dpa
The police are searching for the perpetrator with a large contingent.
Image: dpa
An attacker stabs people seemingly at random at a town festival. What exactly happened in Solingen? And what is known about the perpetrator or his motives?
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- At the city festival in Solingen, Germany, a man attacked visitors with a knife.
- Three people were killed and eight others injured.
- The police are calling it an attack.
An attacker apparently attacked people at random with a knife at an anniversary festival in the town of Solingen, killing three of them. Much is still unclear, including the identity of the perpetrator and his possible motive. An overview:
What is known:
The crime: The unknown attacker suddenly began stabbing his victims at around 9.40pm on Friday evening. The police classify the crime as an attack due to the targeted actions of the perpetrator - and not as a murder spree. Nevertheless, the authorities are not yet calling it a terrorist attack.
Possible accomplices: The police are assuming a lone perpetrator.
The scene of the crime: Thousands celebrated the 650th anniversary of the founding of the city of Solingen in the evening. A stage had been set up for the festival on the well-attended Fronhof, a market square. The perpetrator struck right in front of the stage.
The victims: According to the North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of the Interior, the perpetrator appears to have attacked people at random during the celebration, i.e. he chose his victims at random. At the same time, however, he stabbed their necks very deliberately. The victims were one woman and two men. Eight people were injured, five of them seriously. No further details about their condition or the identity of the victims were known until the morning.
The escape: The perpetrator managed to escape in the turmoil and panic that initially spread after the attack in the busy city center, according to a spokesman for the NRW Ministry of the Interior. The police are still deployed with a large contingent, including special forces, and are searching for the man.
The witnesses: Many of the witnesses who were in the immediate vicinity of the incident are in shock, the police explained. "We are currently providing them with professional support and we are of course questioning them in order to obtain more detailed information." The police have also set up a website where witnesses to the incident can upload cell phone photos and videos.
The warning: anyone who observes anything suspicious should not act on their own initiative, but should call the emergency services, a police spokesperson urged. The police called on people in Solingen in the morning to be careful in the city center.
The festival: The celebration of the 650th anniversary of the founding of the city of Solingen was to last from Friday to Sunday as a "festival of diversity". After the attack, the city canceled the program items planned for this Saturday and Sunday.
This is not known:
The perpetrator: even around eleven hours after the attack, the police said they had not been able to identify the perpetrator by Saturday morning. German media reported on Saturday morning that a man had been arrested in his parents' apartment.
The motive: There were initially no reliable indications of the perpetrator's motive. It therefore also remained unclear whether the crime may have a terrorist background.
The escape: It is not known under what circumstances the perpetrator broke off his attack and how exactly he fled.
The murder weapon: There was initially no information on the size or type of the knife. It is also unclear whether the perpetrator got rid of the weapon or took it with him.
The danger: Is there a danger of another attack for the people in Solingen and the surrounding area? The perpetrator is not known to the police and is on the run. Therefore, nothing can be ruled out. It is not known whether the man arrested is the perpetrator.