An attack overshadows the city festival in Solingen. Three people die and five are seriously injured. Now the first reactions from politicians are following.
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Solingen – An attacker killed three people with a knife on Friday evening (23 August) at the 650th anniversary celebrations of the city of Solingen. According to current information, five people were seriously injured in the attackThe police classified the act as an attack – because of the targeted nature of the action.
NRW Interior Minister Reul comments on attack in Solingen – perpetrator on the run
The perpetrator was still on the run after midnight. “We currently have no clues as to his whereabouts,” said a police spokesman. There is no reliable information about the appearance of the fugitive suspect. “I think that is our huge problem. We don’t have much information about the perpetrator yet,” explained Alexander Kresta, spokesman for the Wuppertal police. Witnesses who were in the immediate vicinity of the incident are in shock. However, investigators can currently assume that there is a single perpetrator, Kresta continued. All witness statements that the police have been able to take so far about the attack point to this. “We are not aware of any other people.”
Meanwhile, NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) arrived at the crime scene in Solingen that night. He was visibly affected. “Out of nowhere, someone randomly stabbed people,” said Reul. The dead were a woman and two men.
Perpetrator randomly stabbed passers-by in attack in Solingen: “Shock, horror and great sadness”
According to police, the attacker randomly stabbed passers-by at around 9:37 p.m. A major alarm was raised shortly afterwards. At least one helicopter is in the air, numerous emergency vehicles with blue lights and ambulances are on the way, and wide areas of the streets are cordoned off. Armed officers are securing the scene. There are cordons all over the city. Screens have been erected. The crime scene is the Fronhof – a market square in downtown Solingen.
The perpetrator managed to escape in the tumult and the initial panic that spread after the crime, said a spokesman for the NRW Interior Ministry. The attacker stabbed his victims very precisely in the neck. They were visitors to the festival. Forensic investigations are currently underway. The dead were still lying at the crime scene that night and have not yet been identified.
Solingen’s mayor, Tim Kurzbach, was shocked by the attack. “This evening we are all in Solingen in shock, horror and great sadness,” wrote the SPD politician 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.”
Attack in Solingen: Desert speaks of “act of the most brutal and senseless violence”
Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst described the attack as an “act of the most brutal and senseless violence”. The act “hit our country at the heart”, he wrote on the X platform. North Rhine-Westphalia is united in shock and grief. “In these dark hours, the people of our country and beyond are in Solingen with their hearts and thoughts,” the CDU politician continued. And: “A big thank you goes to the many rescue workers and our police who are fighting for people’s lives at this very moment.”
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.”
A police spokesman advised that anyone who sees anything suspicious should not act on their own initiative, but should call the emergency number 110. The police in Wuppertal called on people to avoid Solingen city center via Facebook. The city has completely canceled the festival, which was originally planned for three days. The program items planned for this Saturday and Sunday have also been canceled, according to a statement.
Attacks in Germany: Faeser 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 first 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. (red/dpa/AFP)
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