15-year-old arrested in connection to horror knife attack in Germany that left 3 dead, several injured

A 15-year-old boy has been arrested after he allegedly failed to report a chilling warning from a suspect who then carried out a deadly knife attack at a music festival.

A suspect is on the loose and a 15-year-old has been arrested in connection with a sickening knife attack at a festival in Germany that left three people dead and wounded eights others, authorities announced on Saturday.

The perpetrator remained at large more than 24 hours after reportedly targeting the victims in the neck at a street festival in the city of Solingen.

The attack occurred close to a stage during a musical act on Friday night local time, according to oficials.

Police cautioned the young suspect was not the attacker — but instead had been accused of failing to report a crime, according to CNN.

Witnesses claimed the teen had spoken to an unidentified person about “intentions that would match with the crime” shortly before the attack, senior public prosecutor Markus Caspers said in a news conference reported by the Washington Post.

They allegedly heard the unknown knifeman say to the 15-year-old: “Today I’m going to stab everyone”, The Sun reports.

Investigators told a press conference that the 15-year-old had been arrested for failing to tell police he was told of an imminent attack by the knifeman in the hours before the rampage.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the terrifying attack, saying it was “in revenge for Muslims in Palestine and everywhere,” in a statement posted on the militant group’s Telegram account on Saturday.

Flowers, candles and tributes are placed close to the site of the tragedy. Picture: Sascha Schuermann/Getty Images)

The site of yesterday's deadly stabbings that left three dead and eight injured on August 24, 2024 in Solingen, Germany. Picture: Sascha Schuermann/Getty Images.

Armed officers are now continuing a major hunt for the suspect with officers searching properties for evidence.

A police spokesman, Thorsten Fleiß, said the attacker specifically targeted the necks of his victims.

“After evaluating the initial images, we assume that it was a very targeted attack on the neck,” he said during a press conference.

Earlier, authorities could not rule out a “terrorist” motive, noting multiple knives were found, Police Chief Markus Röhrl said.

The knifeman went on the rampage late on Friday, as thousands had gathered for the first night of a “Festival of Diversity”, part of a series of events to mark the town’s 650th anniversary.

Mourners pay tribute to the dead after a knife-wielding assailant reportedly stabbed people at random during a public celebration. Picture: Sascha Schuermann/Getty Images.

On Saturday, police in the city Dusseldorf, which lies just west of Solingen, announced they had detained a person as part of their investigation and were verifying whether they had “a connection with the crime”. The victims who lost their lives have been confirmed to be a woman, 56, and two men aged 56 and 67.

Five of the wounded were in a “serious” condition, with a prosecutor saying a terror attack motive was “not excluded”.

Solingen’s centre was closed off after Friday’s attack, as special forces and other security personnel swarmed the city centre and a helicopter flew overhead, according to an AFP journalist.

“Our security authorities are doing everything they can to catch the perpetrator” of the “horrific act”, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said, with Chancellor Olaf Scholz saying he “must be caught quickly and punished”.

Thousands of people had gathered in front of a stage on the first night of the “Festival of Diversity” when the killing started.

“An unidentified man attacked several people with a knife around 9:40pm (1940 GMT),” said the statement released by Dusseldorf police.

“Police are currently searching for the perpetrator with a large contingent,” it added, encouraging witnesses to send them photos, videos and any other information about the attack.

Forensic police inspect the crime scene. Picture: AFP

Police and ambulances stand near the scene where a several people died and several were injured in an attack. Picture: Gianni Gattus / DPA / AFP

‘A person fell’

“Out of nowhere, a man armed with a knife stabbed people at random and killed them,” regional interior minister Herbert Reul said in comments at the scene.

“Why? Nobody knows. We cannot say anything yet about the motive,” he added.

Witness Lars Breitzke told the Solinger Tageblatt newspaper he was a few metres from the attack, not far from the festival stage, and “understood from the expression on the singer’s face that something was wrong”.

“And then, a metre away from me, a person fell,” said Breitzke, who at first thought it was someone who had too much to drink.

When he turned around, he saw other people lying on the ground amid pools of blood.

Solingen mayor Tim-Oliver Kurzbach said the whole city was in “shock, horror and great grief”.

“We all wanted to celebrate our town’s anniversary together and now we have to mourn the dead and injured,” he said.

‘Brutal and senseless’

Hendrik Wuest, the premier of North Rhine-Westphalia state, also expressed his “shock and grief” in a post on social media platform X.

“An act of the most brutal and senseless violence has struck at the heart of our state,” he said.

“The whole of North Rhine-Westphalia stands by the people of Solingen, especially the victims and their families.”

Solingen is a city of some 150,000 people located between Dusseldorf and Cologne.

It is also known as the ‘City of Blades’, as it has long been known for the manufacturing of fine swords, knives, scissors and razors made by famous firms.

The tragedy comes amid a heated political debate about rising knife violence in German cities.

People had gathered in the town on Friday evening for the first day of the three-day “Festival of Diversity”.

It was set to feature music, street theatre, variety shows and comedians in the city centre and several other areas, it said.

Up to 75,000 visitors had been expected to attend.

Festival cancelled

The Solinger Tageblatt said one of the festival organisers went on stage to announce it was cancelled.

Thousands of people cleared the area, the paper reported, with a journalist at the scene describing the atmosphere as “ghostly”.

“People left the scene in shock, but calmly,” Philipp Mueller, one of the organisers, told the newspaper.

Mueller said the rest of the festival would also be cancelled.

Germany has seen a series of knife attacks over the past 12 months, with the government promising to crack down on knife crime.

A police officer was killed and five people were wounded in a knife attack at a far-right rally in the city of Mannheim in May.

- With AFP