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A man suspected of carrying out a mass stabbing in the western German town of Solingen, which left three people dead 24 hours later, has been detained by police, a German government official told German television on Saturday (August 24).
North Rhine-Westphalia state Interior Minister Herbert Reuer told broadcaster ARD he felt “a bit relieved” after authorities spent a day following a “hot lead” that led to the arrest of the suspect.
Islamic State had previously claimed responsibility for Friday’s knife attack, which also injured eight people.
Ruhl said police spent the entire day searching and arrested two suspects who may not have been the perpetrators.
“The real suspect is the man we just arrested,” he said. He said the man was being questioned and evidence had been seized.
Rule said the man was connected to a refugee home that was searched earlier in the day.
Police declined to immediately comment.
The militant group said in a statement on its Telegram account that the man who carried out the attack was an “Islamic State soldier”: “He carried out this attack in revenge against Palestinians and Muslims around the world.”
Police did not immediately provide any evidence to support their claims, and it was unclear how closely the attackers were linked to the Islamic State.
North Rhine-Westphalia state premier Hendrik West described the attack during the city’s festival on Friday evening as an act of terror.
“This attack strikes at the heart of our nation,” West told reporters.
The attack took place in the western German city’s Fraunhofer market square as a live band was playing to mark the city’s 650th anniversary.
Markus Caspers, an official with the Duesseldorf prosecutor’s office, said authorities were treating the attack as a possible terrorist incident because there was no other known motive and the victims did not appear to be connected to the attack.
Police officer Thorsten Fleiss said it appeared the attacker was aiming for the victim’s throat.
“The perpetrators must be caught swiftly and punished according to the law,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a post on X.
Police cordoned off the square on Saturday, and passersby placed candles and flowers outside the barriers.
“We are filled with shock and sadness,” Solingen Mayor Tim Oliver Kutzbach told reporters.
A German musician named Topic, who said he was playing on a nearby stage when the incident occurred, posted on Instagram that he was told what happened but asked to continue playing “so as not to cause mass panic.”
Finally he was ordered to stop, and “as the attackers were still at large, we took shelter in a nearby store with police helicopters hovering over us,” Topik wrote.
Authorities canceled the remainder of the weekend festival.
In Germany, where fatal stabbings and shootings are relatively rare, the government said earlier this month it would tighten rules on carrying knives in public by shortening the maximum length allowed.
In June, a 29-year-old policeman was stabbed to death while attacking a right-wing demonstration in Mannheim. In 2021, several people were injured in a stabbing on a train.
Solingen is well known for its tool manufacturing industry and is a city of around 165,000 people.
The incident comes ahead of three state elections next month in Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg, where the anti-immigrant far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is expected to win.
While the attacker’s motive and identity remain unclear, Bjoern Hoecke, a leading candidate in state elections for the Alternative for Germany party, seized on Friday’s attack, posting on X: “Do you really want to get used to this? Free yourselves and put an end to this madness of forced multiculturalism.”
Read more by Euractiv
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