Police later detained a suspect, the internal affairs minister of North Rhein Westphalia state said early Sunday. Officials earlier said a year-old boy was arrested early Saturday on suspicion he knew about the planned attack and failed to inform authorities, but he was not the attacker. Two female witnesses told police they overheard the boy and an unknown person before the attack speaking about intentions that corresponded to the bloodshed, officials said.
The three people who died were two men aged 67 and 56 and a year-old woman, authorities said. Thorsten Fleiss, who headed police operations Friday night, said officers were conducting searches and investigations in the entire state of North Rhine Westphalia.
He said police had found several knives, but added he was unable to confirm whether any of them were used during the attack. Police warned people to stay vigilant even as well wishers started to leave flowers at the scene. Authorities established an online portal where witnesses could upload footage and any other information relevant to the attack. German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser visited the city Saturday evening and said the government would do everything possible to support the people of Solingen.
People alerted police shortly after p. It began Friday and was supposed to run through Sunday, with several stages in central streets offering attractions such as live music, cabaret and acrobatics. The attack took place in the crowd in front of one stage. Hours later, the stage lights were still on as police and forensic investigators looked for clues in the cordoned-off square, but the rest of the festival was canceled. We in Solingen are full of horror and grief.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the perpetrator must be punished with the full force of the law. An attacker has brutally killed several people. A decade after the Islamic State militant group declared its caliphate in large parts of Iraq and Syria, the extremists no longer control any land, have lost many prominent leaders and are mostly out of the world news headlines.
