Suspect Arrested After Deadly Stabbing Rampage at Solingen Festival

A man suspected of carrying out a brutal stabbing spree in Solingen, Germany, has been arrested, according to North Rhine-Westphalia’s Interior Minister, Herbert Reul. The arrest comes roughly 24 hours after the attack, which left three people dead and eight others injured during a festival in the city center.

Reul confirmed the arrest on Saturday, stating that authorities had been following a strong lead throughout the day, which ultimately led to the capture of the suspect. “The real suspect is the one that we’ve arrested just now,” Reul said during a television interview, noting that the individual was being questioned and that evidence had been seized.

The incident occurred on Friday night during a festival celebrating Solingen’s 650th anniversary. Witnesses reported that the attacker, armed with a knife, targeted people seemingly at random in a crowd gathered for live music at the Fronhof market square. The attack happened in a matter of minutes, leaving the community in shock.

Among the victims were a 56-year-old woman and two men, aged 56 and 67, all residents of the region. Four of the eight injured are in serious condition, authorities reported. The attacker fled the scene, prompting a massive manhunt involving a large police contingent and helicopters.

In the early hours of Saturday, police detained a 15-year-old boy at his parents’ home. The boy was suspected of failing to report the crime after allegedly speaking with the perpetrator shortly before the attack. A second arrest was made at a refugee home in Solingen, though details about this individual’s connection to the incident remain unclear.

Public prosecutor Markus Caspers stated that a “terrorist motive” could not be ruled out, as the attacker appeared to have no prior connection to the victims. Police also recovered a weapon believed to have been used in the attack, which is now being analyzed for DNA evidence.

As the investigation continues, residents of Solingen have begun to mourn the victims, leaving flowers and candles at the site of the attack. The festival, which was expected to draw up to 25,000 visitors each day, has been canceled, as have other weekend festivities in nearby towns.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed his shock and sorrow over the tragedy. “I am deeply shocked by the terrible event,” Scholz said, adding that he stands with the terrorized city in mourning. “The perpetrator must be caught quickly and punished to the full extent of the law,” he wrote on social media.

Witnesses described the chaos that unfolded during the attack. Sascha Mosig, who was working as a security guard at the festival, recalled seeing people running towards him, some covered in blood, shouting “Knife!” Mosig ran to the square where he saw lifeless bodies and blood everywhere. “You know these images from war. This was one,” he told a local newspaper.

Another witness, Lars Breitzke, who was near the stage when the attack occurred, said he noticed something was wrong from the expression on the singer’s face. “And then, a meter away from me, a person fell,” Breitzke recounted, adding that he initially thought the person was drunk until he saw pools of blood on the ground.

The Solingen stabbing is the latest in a series of knife attacks that have plagued Germany over the past year. Interior Minister Reul urged the public not to speculate about the suspect’s background, emphasizing that it is too early to determine the motive. The German government has recently pledged to address the rise in knife violence with stricter weapons laws.