The municipal festival in the German town of Solingen turned into drama on Friday night. 3 people were stabbed to death. The perpetrator is on the run and his motives are unknown.
“One meter from me, a person fell.” At that time, Lars Breitzke thinks of a drunk person. But that is not the case. When he turned around, he saw other people on the ground and more pools of blood. On Friday evening, in Solingen, western Germany, a man stabbed several people during the festival in the town. The balance was 3 dead and 4 seriously injured.
Stabbed at random
“The man stabbed people at random with a knife,” Wuppertal police spokesman Alexander Kresta said. Bild. The scene was quickly cordoned off by police. Special forces officers and a helicopter were seen at the scene. Witnesses were interviewed, as well as victims who could be interviewed. The police appeal to the population, through a message on X, to provide them with any information, photos and videos.
Solingen: Islamterror or Migrantenamoklauf?
\ud83d\udfe5 Bei der 650-Jahr-Feier der Stadt Solingen am “Festival der Vielfalt” ging ein Araber mit einem Messer auf Deutsche los. 3 Menschen wurden ermordet, viele weitere schwer verlettt.
\ud83d\udc49? Der Täter ist noch flüchtig. Die Polizei… pic.twitter.com/3HAdhxrgJv
– Martin Sellner (@Martin_Sellner) August 23, 2024
Manhunt underway
The perpetrator of the shootings fled after his terrible deed. It is actively wanted, but the searches have not returned anything yet. His identity and motivations are not known. A “major operation” is underway to try to find him, a Düsseldorf police spokeswoman says.
3 days of celebration
Several thousand people gathered in Solingen to celebrate the 650th anniversary of this town in North Rhine-Westphalia. The city of 150,000 inhabitants is located in the Ruhr basin, not far from Düsseldorf and north of Cologne.
“Tonight we are all in a state of shock, horror and great sadness in Solingen,” responded Mayor Tim-Oliver Kurzbach. “It breaks my heart that there was an attack in our city. I have tears in my eyes thinking about those I have lost.”
Thousands of attendees were asked to leave the venue. “The atmosphere is ghostly,” one journalist testified Friday night. The party, scheduled until Sunday, is cancelled.
Several past attacks in Germany
German authorities have remained on alert in recent years in the face of a twin terrorist threat, jihadism and right-wing extremism. The deadliest jihadist attack on German soil dates back to December 2016: a ram truck attack claimed by the Islamic State group killed 12 at a Christmas market in central Berlin. At the end of last May, a knife attack in Mannheim (west) targeting an anti-Islam rally and committed by a 25-year-old Afghan who arrived in Germany in 2014 is suspected of having an Islamist motivation. It cost the life of one policeman and injured five others.