Solingen knife attack still under investigation: German police
Berlin: Police in the western German city of Solingen are still investigating a knife attack two days ago, authorities said at a press conference.
Investigators do not rule out terrorist motives, Xinhua news agency reported.
One person was detained by police on Saturday, who is being investigated whether connected with the attack.
The arrested was a 15-year-old person, police said at the press conference on Saturday noon.
Three people were killed during the attack on Friday evening at an event marking the 650th anniversary of the city’s founding. Eight were injured, among whom four were in serious condition.
According to German newspaper Bild, the arrested person’s appearance did not match the attacker’s description given by witnesses at the scene.
Nearly 80,000 people were reportedly present for the celebration. At about 10 p.m. local time on Friday, a man with a knife attacked people attending the event.
Police then issued a major alert and a shooting alert. The celebration was immediately cancelled, and visitors were asked to leave.
Prosecutor Markus Caspers said that police are looking at terror, saying that there is no other obvious motive and that the attacker appears to be unknown to the victims.
The three people that were killed were two men, aged 67 and 56, and a woman, 56.
The police said that they found “multiple knives” in the area and were looking at which, if any, were used in the attack.
The German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said that the perpetrator must be caught quickly and punished to the fullest extent of the law.
The country’s Interior Minister, Nancy Faeser, said in an update on X that police were still searching for the attacker and trying to establish a motive.