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The police on Saturday evening arrested a man in connection with the case, but declined to say whether they believe he was the attacker in the stabbings at a city festival.
Aug. 24, 2024Updated 5:12 p.m. ET
German police officers are hunting for a man who on Friday night attacked nearly a dozen people with a knife, killing three, during a street festival in the western city of Solingen.
On Saturday evening the police made an arrest in the case, but would not say whether they believed the person was the attacker.
“One man has been arrested and we are now determining how he is connected to the attack,” a spokeswoman with the Düsseldorf police said on Saturday evening.
At a news conference on Saturday afternoon, the authorities said they had not ruled out a terrorist attack because no other explanation for the seemingly random violence made sense.
The police said they had detained a 15-year-old boy for questioning whom they believed might have had prior knowledge of the attack. The state attorney is not treating the youth as a suspect.
What happened?
Shortly after 9:30 p.m., the attacker started stabbing people who had gathered at the festival to celebrate the 650th anniversary of Solingen — a city famous for its knives and scissors. The attack occurred during a live music performance, not far from a temporary stage set up for the event, which was billed as a “Festival of Diversity.”