Thousands of people are celebrating Solingen’s 650th birthday. Suddenly the exuberant mood changes. An attacker stabs people. The police are calling it an attack.
Solingen – An attacker killed three people with a knife on Friday evening at the 650th anniversary celebrations of the city of Solingen. Four other people were seriously injured, according to the police. The perpetrator is on the run, said a police spokeswoman in Düsseldorf shortly after midnight. Police sources said that the case was no longer classified as a rampage, but as an attack. The perpetrator acted deliberately.
The Bild newspaper reported that the attacker randomly stabbed passers-by at around 9:45 p.m. The police have sounded the alarm. At least one helicopter is in the air, numerous emergency vehicles with blue lights flashing are on the road, and streets are cordoned off over a wide area.
Officers are currently at the scene with weapons and securing it. Numerous ambulances are in use. There are cordons all over the city. Screens have been erected. The crime scene is the Fronhof – a market square in downtown Solingen.
According to the “Solinger Tageblatt”, the authorities have asked citizens to leave the city center. The festival is over for now. Sirens can be heard all around the city center. Thousands of visitors followed the request to leave the square quietly and not to panic. “People left the square in shock, but peacefully,” said Philipp Müller, one of the festival’s co-organizers, according to the report.
A reporter from the “Solinger Tageblatt” described: “The atmosphere is spooky.” Within a few minutes, the exuberant party mood had turned into shock, and she was met by visitors streaming with tears.
Mayor speaks of assassination attempt
Solingen’s mayor, Tim Kurzbach, was shocked. “This evening we are all in Solingen in shock, horror and great sadness,” the SPD politician wrote on the city’s Facebook page. “It breaks my heart that there was an attack on our city. I have tears in my eyes when I think of those we have lost. I pray for all those who are still fighting for their lives.”
Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach wrote on Platform X: “Hopefully the rescue workers will succeed in saving the injured who are still alive and the police will be able to catch the cowardly and pathetic perpetrator while he is on the run.”
To mark the 650th anniversary of the city of Solingen, a “Festival of Diversity” began on Friday. It was to last until Sunday. The announcement states: “Solingen Mitte will become a large festival mile: there will be celebrations from Neumarkt to Fronhof to Mühlenplatz.” A program with music, cabaret, acrobatics, arts and crafts, entertainment for children and much more awaits visitors in the streets.
Faeser had recently announced tightening of gun laws
Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) recently announced a tightening of gun laws in response to the increase in knife attacks. In public, knives with a blade length of up to six centimeters will now be allowed, instead of the previous twelve centimeters. There will be a general ban on dangerous switchblades.
In mid-June, a 27-year-old Afghan was shot dead by officers in Wolmirstedt in Saxony-Anhalt after he allegedly stabbed a 23-year-old and then injured several people at a private European Championship garden party. In Mannheim on May 31, an Afghan injured five members of the anti-Islam movement Pax Europa and an officer with a knife. The police officer later died. dpa
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