German police arrest suspected Diversity Festival attacker

The 26-year-old Syrian national has turned himself in

German authorities have arrested the suspected knifeman responsible for killing three people and injuring eight in the city of Solingen on Friday at the Festival of Diversity, dedicated to the city’s 650th anniversary.  

The alleged perpetrator is a 26-year-old Syrian man, who reportedly arrived in the EU country in December 2022 and was granted asylum.  

According to the reports, the suspect, still covered in blood, turned himself in to the police shortly after 11pm, saying “I’m the one you’re looking for.” He was reportedly hiding in a nearby backyard. 

Before, the ministry said that they were looking for the “real suspect” after detaining two people who were likely not the perpetrators. They included a 15-year-old boy, who supposedly knew about the planned attack but failed to report it to the authorities. A second man was arrested at a refugee center located close to the crime scene.

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“The man we’ve really been looking for the whole day has just been taken into custody,” Herbert Reul, the interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia state, told ARD public TV on Saturday.

“I myself am a bit relieved at the moment,” the minister said after the third arrest was made, adding that the police have also found “pieces of evidence.” 

Two men, aged 56 and 67, as well as a 56-year-old woman were stabbed to death by the knifeman, who went on a killing spree during the Festival of Diversity, which is a part of Solingen’s 650th anniversary celebration.  According to the reports of eyewitnesses in the media, “an Arab-looking man” stabbed festivalgoers at random, “targeting” people’s throats and necks. 

 ”The victims were completely unknown with no known ties between them,” Markus Caspers, prosecutor of Duesseldorf, larger city just west of Solingen, said at a press conference after the attack. 

Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) later claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that it was carried out as “revenge for Muslims in Palestine and everywhere.” The claim has yet to be verified. 

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz described the attack as a “horrific act,” saying the culprit “must be caught quickly and punished to the full extent of the law.” 

“The attack in Solingen is a terrible event that has shocked me greatly. ... We mourn the victims and stand by their families,” Scholz said in a message posted on X (formerly Twitter).