Thousands of people are celebrating the 650th anniversary of the city of Solingen, and the atmosphere is exuberant. Suddenly, an attacker starts stabbing people at random, and several die. There is still no trace of the perpetrator.
After the fatal knife attack in Solingen, the police are continuing to search for the perpetrator with a large contingent. According to investigators’ statements from early this morning, he has not yet been identified. “The investigation is ongoing,” said a spokeswoman. The police continued to warn the population of Solingen to be cautious. According to a reporter from the German Press Agency, special units were also still out and about in the city this morning.
Three people were killed in the attack on a city festival on Friday evening. Eight people were injured, five of them seriously. The police in North Rhine-Westphalia classified the crime as an attack because of the perpetrator’s targeted approach.
The perpetrator managed to escape in the tumult and the initial panic that spread after the crime, said a spokesman for the Interior Ministry in North Rhine-Westphalia. A police spokesman said last night that there was no reliable information about the fugitive’s appearance.
Investigators assume lone perpetrator
“I think that’s our huge problem. We don’t have much information about the perpetrator yet,” explained Alexander Kresta, spokesman for the Wuppertal police. Witnesses who were in the immediate vicinity of the incident are in shock. “We are currently providing them with professional support and we are of course interviewing them to get more precise information.”
However, investigators can currently assume that there is a single perpetrator, Kresta continued. All witness statements that the police have been able to take so far point to this. “We are not aware of any other people.”
According to the authorities, the perpetrator appears to have attacked passers-by indiscriminately, choosing his victims at random. According to the Interior Ministry, however, he stabbed them very precisely in the neck. Nothing new was known about the condition of the injured until this morning.
The victims were probably visitors to the festival marking the 650th anniversary of the founding of the city of Solingen. The crime scene was the Fronhof, a market square in the city center where a stage had been set up for the anniversary celebrations, which was well attended at the time. The crime took place directly in front of the stage.
Police warn citizens against acting on their own
The search for the perpetrator continued on Saturday morning. “People in the Solingen city center should be careful,” said a spokesman for the Düsseldorf police, referring to the perpetrator who is still on the run. “Anyone who sees a suspicious person should immediately call the emergency number 110 and not speak to them.”
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser was shocked by the “brutal attack”. “My thoughts are with the families of those killed and those seriously injured,” the SPD politician wrote on X. The security authorities are doing everything they can to catch the perpetrator and determine the background.
NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) arrived at the scene that night and was visibly shocked. “Out of nowhere, someone randomly stabs people,” said Reul. “We in North Rhine-Westphalia are deeply shocked and united in grief.” The dead were a woman and two men.
The city has completely cancelled the street festival that was originally planned for three days. The program items planned for this Saturday and Sunday have also been cancelled.
According to police, the attacker struck at around 9:37 p.m. A major alarm was raised shortly afterwards. At least one helicopter was in the air, numerous emergency vehicles with blue lights and ambulances were on the way, and streets were cordoned off over a wide area. Armed officers secured the scene.
According to the “Solinger Tageblatt”, thousands of visitors followed the request to leave the square quietly and not to panic. “People left the square in shock, but peacefully,” Philipp Müller, one of the festival’s co-organizers, was quoted as saying. Later, a ghostly atmosphere prevailed in the almost deserted city center.
Solingen’s mayor Tim Kurzbach was shocked. “This evening we are all in Solingen in shock, horror and great sadness,” wrote the SPD politician on the city’s Facebook page. “It breaks my heart that there was an attack on our city. I have tears in my eyes when I think of those we have lost. I pray for all those who are still fighting for their lives.”
North Rhine-Westphalia’s Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst spoke of an “act of the most brutal and senseless violence”. The act “hit our country at the heart”, he wrote on the X platform. NRW is united in shock and grief. “In these dark hours, the people of our country and beyond are in Solingen with their hearts and thoughts,” the CDU politician continued. And: “A big thank you goes to the many rescue workers and our police who are fighting for people’s lives at this very moment.”
Police set up information portal
The police opened a portal where witnesses to the incident can upload cell phone photos and videos (www.nrw.hinweisportal.de). The city of Solingen, in turn, set up a hotline for citizens to ask about missing people (0212 – 290-2000). The police have received an increasing number of inquiries from concerned relatives, it was said.
The “Festival of Diversity” in Solingen began on Friday. It was supposed to last until Sunday. The announcement said: “Solingen Mitte will become a big festival mile: the celebrations will take place from Neumarkt to Fronhof to Mühlenplatz.” A program with music, cabaret, acrobatics, arts and crafts, entertainment for children and much more awaits visitors in the streets.
Faeser recently announced tightening of gun laws
In view of the increase in knife attacks, Federal Minister of the Interior Faeser recently announced a tightening of gun laws. In public, knives with a blade length of up to six centimeters will now be allowed, instead of the previous twelve centimeters. There will be a general ban on dangerous switchblades.
In mid-June, a 27-year-old Afghan was shot dead by officers in Wolmirstedt in Saxony-Anhalt after he first stabbed a 23-year-old and then injured several people at a private European Championship garden party. In Mannheim on May 31, an Afghan injured five members of the anti-Islam movement Pax Europa and an officer with a knife. The police officer later died.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
