German police said they have detained a 15-year-old boy and are working to verify if the teen is connected to the stabbing of several people at a music festival in Solingen on Friday.
Three people were killed in the attack and eight others were injured — four of whom are considered “very seriously injured.” Police are continuing to search for the attacker.
The people killed in the attack include two men ages 67 and 57 and a woman aged 56, authorities said.
The 15-year-old arrested in the early hours is being accused of “failure to report planned crimes,” but he has not been charged, Markus Caspers, the Duesseldorf prosecutor general, said during a press conference Saturday.
A sign reading “Why?” lies at a makeshift memorial on Aug. 24, 2024, near the scene where at least three people were killed and several injured when a man attacked them with a knife on late Aug. 23, 2024, in Solingen, western Germany, as the city celebrated its 650th anniversary.
Roberto Pfeil/afp/AFP via Getty Images
Flowers, candles and tributes are placed close to the site of yesterday’s deadly stabbings that left three dead and eight injured, on Aug. 24, 2024, in Solingen, Germany.
Sascha Schuermann/Getty Images
Two female witnesses overheard a conversation between the 15-year-old and another person that could have indicated the attack, and they reported this information to the police after the incident, according to Caspers.
Police are continuing searches in “various locations” and are looking for potential perpetrators, police said in a press conference Saturday. Police currently believe the individual was acting alone.
Police officers are shown at the scene following an incident in which several individuals were killed after a man randomly stabbed passers-by with a knife at a city festival, in Solingen, Germany, Aug. 24, 2024.
Thilo Schmuelgen/Reuters
Police said they found several knives at the scene and believe the attacker may have been targeting the necks of his victims.
Authorities are still investigating the motive behind the attack but said the victims had no apparent relationship to another and investigators suspect this may have been an act of terrorism, according to Caspers.
The “Festival of Diversity” was being held throughout the weekend to celebrate Solingen’s 650th anniversary, according to the festival’s organizers.
Prior to the festival, police said they had no information regarding a threat, so there were no surveillance zones or similar measures in place. They said they will be more thorough with security concepts in the future.