Solingen: Police detain person in refugee home after attack

Police have arrested a suspect in connection with the knife attack in Solingen, Interior Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Herbert Reul told German TV.

The minister spoke of a "real suspect" who police had been looking for all day, but didn't clarify whether he was talking about one of the two people who had already been arrested.

Reul said the man was "highly" suspected of the crime and that evidence had been found.

The arrested suspect's clothes were dirty and covered in blood, the German news magazine Der Spiegel quoted security sources as saying.

Following the knife attack in Solingen, Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck has spoken out in favor of stricter gun laws. 

"We don't know whether the terrible crime in Solingen could have been prevented with stricter laws," Habeck said, but added that some tightening of weapons restrictions is simply right and necessary.

"More weapons-free zones and stricter weapons laws — nobody in Germany needs cutting and stabbing weapons in public. We are no longer living in the Middle Ages," Habeck said.

Habeck, a Green, is among several German political leaders who have urged tighter weapons rules in the wake of the attack.

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) has also called for significantly stricter weapons laws.

Justice Minister Marco Buschmann, from the liberal Free Democrats (FDP), said ministers will have to discuss new laws that "can further advance the fight against this type of knife crime."

His party has previously opposed restrictions put forward by its coalition partner.

The so-called "Islamic State" has claimed responsibility for a knife attack at a diversity festival in the western German city of Solingen.

The stabbing left three dead and eight injured, some of whom are still fighting for their lives. DW's Aaron Tilton reports from Solingen. 

One person was arrested in a refugee center in Solingen on Saturday evening, a day after the stabbing rampage that left three people dead and five injured. A police spokesman told the DPA news agency that investigations were continuing.

Whether the detainee is suspected of being the attacker, authorities did not say. Links to the attack are still being investigated, the police spokesman said.

Earlier in the day, police detained a 15-year-old who allegedly had prior knowledge of the attack.

A day after the deadly knife attack in Solingen, hundreds of people joined an outdoor prayer service in the city center as a mark of respect for the victims and their relatives.

Many mourners arrived at the service with flowers and candles in memory of the three people killed and eight wounded in Friday evening's attack.

People had laid down club scarves, cuddly toys, letters and other messages of solidarity at the site of the attack.

"The city is a different place today than it was yesterday," said Michael Mohr, a Catholic priest who serves as deacon for the city.

Ilka Werner, a leader of the local Protestant Christian church in Solingen, also emphasized the need to offer comfort to the community.

Churches in Solingen have opened their doors following the attack to offer a space for prayer and emergency pastoral care.

The militant  "Islamic State" (IS) group claimed responsibility for the deadly knife attack in the western German city of Solingen on Friday evening.

In a statement on social media, IS' Amaq media wing said the knifeman was a "soldier of the Islamic State" who targeted a "Christian gathering" in what it said was "revenge for Muslims in Palestine and everywhere."

These claims coud not be independently verified.

Three people were killed in the stabbing and eight others were wounded, including four seriously.

The head of government for Germany's North Rhine-Westphalia state has described the Solingen knife attack as an "act of terror against the security and freedom of this country." The apparent stabbing rampage killed three people and wounded at least eight others on Friday.

"This attack has hit our country in the heart," state premier Hendrik Wüst said during a visit to the western German city on Saturday.

"This attack was intended to spread terror, terror among people who are celebrating together."

Wüst said Germans will not "let themselves be shaken by terror and hatred," he added, repeating calls by other German politicians for the perpetrator to be brought to justice.

Germany's Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, who also visited Solingen on Saturday, said the authorities were doing everything they can to track down the attacker. However, she stopped short of designating the stabbings as a terror attack.

Markus Caspers, from the counterterrorism section of the public prosecutor's office, told a news conference earlier that investigators have not so far identified a motive.

"But looking at the overall circumstances, we cannot rule out" the possibility of terrorism, Caspers said.

German officials set up a tip-off web portal for any information about the Solingen knife attacker, who was still at large as of early Saturday evening.

Local police chief Thorsten Fleiss said that "extensive" material had already been received from the public in connection with the case. 

Investigators are still evaluating possible evidence "so at the moment we can't publish a specific picture of the perpetrator because we can't yet attribute it specifically," he added.

Fleiss said there is not yet a clear known image to identify the attacker.

He was unable to confirm reports that the murder weapon had been discovered in a rubbish bin in the city center by investigators.

He said several knives were seized, "which we will now examine individually" to determine if any of them can be linked with the attack.

Fleiss added that officers are conducting searches across Germany's western state of North Rhine Westphalia, where Solingen is located.

Hours after a person was detained in connection with the Solingen attack, authorities clarified that the person in custody was a 15-year-old who may have had knowledge about the attack before it took place.

"According to witness statements, an unknown person allegedly spoke with the teenager shortly before the attack about intentions that would match the execution of the crime," said senior public prosecutor Markus Caspers.

German authorities are currently investigating if the teenager was connected to the crime. They said he may be arrested for failing to report the plot.

German authorities have yet to determine the motive for the Solingen attack, but also "cannot rule out" terrorism, according to the prosecutor general investigating the case, Markus Caspers.

Speaking in a press conference on Saturday, Caspers added that authorities were investigating three counts of murder and eight counts of severe bodily harm. 

“Based on the overall circumstances, we assume that the initial suspicion of a terrorist-motivated act cannot be ruled out,” he said.

Police announced they had arrested a 15-year-old early in the morning for questioning.

Caspers said the suspect is believed to have talked to the detained teenager about the potential reasons for the attack.

German authorities have now detained one person over the Solingen knife attack.

Police are still investigating if the suspect was connected to the stabbing, they said.

"Various police measures, including searches at various locations, are being carried out in parallel," Düsseldorf police said in a statement. "Investigations and searches for possible further perpetrators and reasons for the offense are in full swing."

Special police units have joined in the search for the man who stabbed three people and injured eight others at a festival in the western German city of Solingen.  

"The police are currently conducting a large-scale search for the perpetrator," police said in a statement. "Both victims and witnesses are currently being questioned," they said.

Police have so far given no indication that the identity of the attacker has been established, but have set up an online portal where eyewitnesses can upload footage and information relevant to the incident.

They have warned people to stay vigilant.

No motive for the crime has yet been given by police, who have said only that the attacker appeared to have acted deliberately.

German Economy Minister Robert Habeck and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock from the Green Party have both expressed their sorrow at the Solingen attack.

"Violence against people who just want to celebrate happily is something to be condemned," Habeck, who is also vice chancellor, said in Berlin.

He wished strength and comfort to the loved ones of those who died in the attack and a good recovery to those who were wounded.

"It is good that the police are now making every effort to find the perpetrator as fast as possible," he added.

Baerbock wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that her thoughts were with the families and friends of the victims.

"My thanks go to the forces of law and order, who are flat out looking for the perpetrator," she wrote.

• A knife attack in the western German city of Solingen on Friday evening has killed three people, reportely two men and a woman, and injured eight other people, five seriously, police say
• The attack, believed by police to have been carried out by a sole male assailant, occurred in front of a music stage at a "Festival of Diversity" celebrating the 650th anniversary of the city
• A massive manhunt is underway for the perpetrator, who fled the scene unidentified amid the tumult caused by the attack
• The festival, which was meant to run until Sunday, has been cancelled following the attack
• No motive has so far been established for the attacks, in which police say the knifeman deliberately targeted the throats of victims
• Politicians across the board have voiced shock and sorrow at the attack
• Police are to hold a press conference on Saturday afternoon to inform the public about their progress in finding the perpetrator

DW reporter Lewis Sanders has been on the scene in Solingen in the aftermath of the deadly attack. Speaking from the town square where the incident happened, he said the atmosphere was "grim."