German police hunt for suspect in holiday stabbing, 3 dead

Police launched a manhunt for an unidentified attacker hours after a stabbing at a festival in the western German city of Solingen left three people dead on Saturday.

Eight people were injured, five of them seriously, police said in a statement early Saturday, an increase from an earlier report of four serious injuries.

“The victims and witnesses are currently being questioned. A large police team is searching for the perpetrators,” police said.

Police said the incident occurred around 9:40 p.m. local time on Friday when the man attacked several people with a knife.

Police added that the attacker specifically targeted people’s throats. They could not provide further details or a motive.

“Our security services are doing everything they can to catch the perpetrators and investigate the background of the attack,” German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said in a post on X.

The attack took place at the Fronhof market square in Solingen as a live band was playing. The attack occurred during celebrations for the 650th anniversary of the founding of the city of Solingen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, which borders the Netherlands.

The German musician, who goes by the name Topic, said he was playing on a nearby stage when the incident occurred. He posted on Instagram that he was told what had happened but was 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 while police helicopters circled above 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 Police Deaths Stabbed during a right-wing demonstration in Mannheim. Train attack In 2021, several people were injured.

North Rhine-Westphalia Interior Minister Herbert Ruhl visited the scene early Saturday and told reporters it was an attack on human life but declined to speculate on a motive.