Suspect yielding to law enforcement in Solingen knife incident
According to a statement from the Düsseldorf law enforcement on Sunday morning, a person confessed to the authorities on Saturday evening, claiming responsibility for the incidence at the city event in Solingen on Friday evening. Their involvement is currently under thorough scrutiny.
As per Reul, this individual is "strongly suspected." "It's more than just a hunch. We didn't just get a tip about this person, we also discovered evidence."
Prior to this, the police had previously detained a man in a refugee accommodation in Solingen, situated near the crime scene. Earlier in the day, a 15-year-old was also apprehended, who could potentially be related to the accused. According to the police, both are currently being considered as witnesses, based on the current investigation.
The now detained individual also resided in the refugee accommodation, according to Reul. He will now be interrogated, and "all of this will be cleared up."
On Friday evening, the offender attacked numerous individuals with a knife at a city event in Solingen. Three individuals lost their lives - an 67-year-old, a 56-year-old, and another 56-year-old. Four victims were seriously injured, along with two others seriously and two lightly.
The incident caused widespread shock. North Rhine-Westphalia's Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) described it as an "act of terror." Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) labeled the attack as a "distressing event." He was "deeply shocked," Scholz wrote on the online service X. The offender must be "swiftly captured and penalized to the full extent of the law."
Investigators are not ruling out a terrorist motive. "Given the overall circumstances, we cannot rule out the initial suspicion of a terrorist motivation," said the chief public prosecutor in Düsseldorf, Markus Caspers, at a press conference in Wuppertal on Saturday afternoon.
The Islamic State (IS) militant group declared responsibility for the knife attack. An "IS soldier" carried out the attack "on a gathering of Christians in the city of Solingen in Germany" on Friday, the IS propaganda organ Amaq announced on the Telegram online service. The offender had taken "revenge" for Muslims in the Palestinian territories and elsewhere in the world.
Reul commented on the IS claim, stating it required careful investigation. "There are these claims all the time. They are usually correct, but of course, it can also be a false report," said the CDU politician. "But there is something to it."
Meanwhile, the city of Solingen announced a memorial service for Sunday. Instead of the planned celebration of the 650th anniversary of the city, there will be a memorial service at 10:00 a.m. in the city church on the Fronhof, it said on the city's website. On Saturday evening, there was already a memorial event on the Neumarkt in Solingen, which was also attended by Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) and the North Rhine-Westphalian Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU).
The ARD newsreported extensively on the incident in Solingen, providing updates on the ongoing investigation and the involvement of the suspect. After the detention of the individual, the ARD highlighted the comments from the Düsseldorf law enforcement and the police's current consideration of both witnesses.
In the aftermath of the tragic event in Solingen, numerous political figures, including North Rhine-Westphalia's Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) and Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), expressed their shock and condemnation through interviews with ARD.
