Stabbing in Solingen: Two arrests after knife attack with three dead at festival; Islamic State claims responsibility

SOLINGEN, Germany — German police said on Saturday that they had arrested two people, including a 15-year-old boy, in connection with the stabbing of several people at a music festival in Solingen the previous evening.

Three people were killed in the attack and eight others were injured, four of whom were considered “very seriously injured”. The police are still looking for the attacker.

Among those killed in the attack were two men aged 67 and 57 and a 56-year-old woman, authorities said.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack on Saturday, according to Site Intelligence Group, a nongovernmental organization that specializes in monitoring jihadist media. It is currently unclear how closely the unknown attacker was linked to the terror group or any group affiliated with it.

The 15-year-old, who was arrested in the early hours of the morning, is accused of “failing to report planned criminal offenses,” but no charges have been brought against him, said Düsseldorf Attorney General Markus Caspers at a press conference on Saturday.

Two female witnesses overheard a conversation between the 15-year-old and another person that could indicate the attack and reported this information to the police after the incident, Caspers said.

Later that day, police said they searched a refugee housing complex near the festival grounds based on a tip-off and arrested a second person in connection with the knife attack.

The police have not yet commented on the connection between this second person and the attack or on the question of whether he or she could be the perpetrator.

Police are continuing to search “various locations” and look for possible perpetrators, police said in a press conference on Saturday. Police currently believe that the person acted alone.

Police said they found several knives at the crime scene and believe the attacker may have been aiming for his victims' necks.

Authorities are still investigating the motive for the attack, but said the victims did not appear to have been related to each other and investigators suspect it may have been a terrorist attack, Caspers said.

The “Festival of Diversity” took place throughout the weekend to mark Solingen’s 650th anniversary, according to the organizers.

Before the festival, the police had stated that they had had no indications of any danger, which is why no surveillance zones or similar measures had been set up. They announced that even more thorough security concepts would be developed in the future.