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A large-scale manhunt is underway in Germany after an attacker stabbed three people to death at a festival on Friday evening in the western city of Solingen, but police say they have yet to identify a suspect.
Police said a 15-year-old boy was arrested on Saturday in connection with the attack, but said he was not the alleged attacker, who is believed to be a lone male.
Investigations revealed that the dead in the attack were two men aged 67 and 56, and a woman aged 56. Eight others were injured, including four with life-threatening injuries.
The motive for the attack, which shocked the country, has not been determined, and terrorism has not been ruled out. Although the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, it has not provided any evidence to support its claim.
Police spokesman Thorsten Fleis said the attacker specifically targeted his victims’ necks. “After assessing the initial images, we assume that it was a very targeted attack on the neck,” he told a news conference.
An unidentified man armed with a knife attacked several people at random in a central square in the city of Solingen, about 25 kilometres (15 miles) east of Duesseldorf, on Friday evening, police said.
The suspect remained at large on Saturday, police said, with special forces deployed in an active manhunt. Officers confirmed at a news conference on Saturday that there were “intensive searches” across the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Local residents in Solingen have been warned to be careful and stay alert.
Not much is known about the identity of the person responsible for the incident. Police still do not have a clear picture of the suspect and are seeking more information to help them in their search.
Crowds gathered in Solingen’s town square on Friday to celebrate the “Diversity Festival,” a three-day event marking the city’s 650th anniversary. Police say the attack happened near a theater where a musical performance was taking place.
Eyewitness Lars Bretzke said the attack happened a few metres away from him. Speaking to local newspaper Solinger Tagblatt, Bretzke said he realised something was wrong by the expression on the singer’s face on stage. “Someone fell a few metres away from me,” he said.
German DJ Tobek was performing nearby and wrote on Instagram that he was asked to continue performing “to avoid causing mass panic.” Tobek said he and others hid in a nearby store as police helicopters circled overhead.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz condemned the attack.
“The attack in Solingen is a horrific event that I find deeply disturbing. A murderer brutally murdered several people,” he wrote on his X website.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said authorities were “doing everything they can to catch the perpetrator and determine the background to the attack.”
“This evening, all of us in Solingen are shocked, horrified and deeply saddened,” said city mayor Tim Kurzbach.
“We all wanted to celebrate our city’s anniversary together and now we have to mourn the dead and wounded,” he wrote on the Solingen city’s Facebook page.
According to the festival’s website, Friday marked the start of a three-day festival of diversity, which includes music, food, performances and family-friendly entertainment.
The Bergisch Symphony Orchestra, the joint orchestra of the cities of Solingen and Remscheid, was scheduled to play on the main stage on Friday.
Friday’s attack comes amid a rise in knife crime in Germany, which prompted Interior Minister Faeser recently to propose tougher laws to tackle the issue.
Police data shows there were 8,951 incidents of knife crime causing serious bodily harm in Germany in 2023 – 791 more cases than the previous year.
This story has been updated with additional information. Reporting by CNN’s Melissa Gray contributed.