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A massive manhunt is underway in the western German city of Solingen after an attacker stabbed three people to death and seriously injured several others at a festival on Friday evening.
Police have arrested a 15-year-old boy in connection with the incident but insist he is not a prime suspect. “The investigation and hunt for additional perpetrators and motives for the crime is in full swing,” Düsseldorf police said in a statement.
An unknown assailant armed with a knife attacked several people in the city’s central square, about 25 kilometers (15 miles) east of Düsseldorf. Eight people were injured in the attack, five of them critically, police added.
A lone male suspect was on the run on Saturday, police said, prompting special forces to launch an intensive hunt. Local residents in Solingen have been warned to be vigilant and alert.
Not much is known about the attacker. Police do not yet have a clear image of the suspect and are looking for more information to aid in their search. A police spokesman, Alexander Kresta, told German state broadcaster Deutsche Welle that the lack of information about the suspect was a “big problem”.
No intention yet. However, when asked by reporters if it was a terrorist attack, a police spokesman warned: “That would be pure speculation. We can’t say that at the moment,” he said.
Crowds gathered in Solingen Square on Friday to celebrate the “Festival of Diversity,” a three-day event marking the 650th anniversary of the city’s founding. Police said the attack took place near the stage where the concert was going on.
Eyewitness Lars Breitzke said the attack happened just meters away from him. Speaking to local newspaper Solinger Tageblatt, Preitzke said he realized something was wrong with the singer’s face on stage. Then, he said, “A person fell down one meter away from me.”
German DJ Topic was performing nearby and wrote on his Instagram that he had been asked to continue the show “to avoid causing a big panic”. The caption added that he and others hid in a nearby store as police helicopters hovered overhead.
German President Olaf Scholz condemned the attack.
“The attack in Solingen was a terrible event that saddens me deeply,” he wrote in X. “One killer brutally kills many.”
“The authorities are doing everything they can to catch the culprit and find out the background to the attack,” said Germany’s Interior Minister Nancy Fasser.
The town’s mayor, Tim Kurzbach, said: “This evening, all of us in Solingen are experiencing shock, horror and great sadness.”
“We all wanted to celebrate our city’s anniversary together, and now we have to pay our respects to the dead and injured,” he wrote on Solingen’s Facebook page.
Pictures and footage from the scene on Friday showed several ambulances and police officers, as well as a helicopter flying overhead.
According to the festival’s website, the three-day “Festival of Diversity” kicked off Friday, including music, food, performances and family-friendly entertainment.
The Bergisch Symphony Orchestra, a shared orchestra for the cities of Solingen and Remscheid, was scheduled to play on the main stage on Friday.
Friday’s attack comes as knife crime is on the rise in Germany, recently prompting Interior Minister Pfizer to propose tougher laws to tackle the problem.
Police data show that 8,951 stabbing incidents caused serious bodily harm in Germany in 2023 – 791 cases more than the previous year.
This story has been updated with additional information. Reporting by CNN’s Melissa Gray contributed
