Man surrenders to police and confesses to knife attack at festival in Germany

Police say a 26-year-old Syrian has admitted to the mass stabbing in the western German city of Solingen that killed three people and injured eight

Members of a special police unit escort a man suspected to be responsible for the Solingen knife attack from a helicopter to the office of the Federal Prosecutor in Karlsruhe, southern Germany. AP

Police in Germany say a 26-year-old man is in custody after he surrendered and confessed to the mass stabbing in a city to the east of Düsseldorf that killed three people and injured eight others.

The attack took place in Solingen at about 10pm local time on Friday, when a man attacked people at a festival.

German officials said the suspected attacker is an asylum seeker from Syria. Quoting security sources, Der Spiegel newspaper reported the man moved to Germany late in 2022, but was not known to the security services as an extremist.

The suspect turned himself in and admitted to the crime, Düsseldorf police and prosecutors said in a joint statement.

“The involvement of this person is currently under intensive investigation,” they said.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the killings and that it had been in revenge for “Muslims in Palestine and everywhere”. German federal prosecutors have taken over the case and are investigating whether the suspect was a member of the extremist group, a representative of the prosecutors said.

On Saturday, police had said they had searched a home for refugees in Solingen.

Police said they have arrested a 15-year-old boy on suspicion of knowing about the attack and not informing authorities, but he was not the attacker.

Witnesses allegedly saw the teen discussing the attack, said Markus Caspers, prosecutor of Duesseldorf.

Two men aged 67 and 57 and a woman aged 56 were killed in the attack.

Four of the eight people injured are in a serious condition “fighting for their lives”, police said.

Regional Premier Hendrik Wuest expressed his shock and grief in a post on social media platform X.

“An act of the most brutal and senseless violence has struck at the heart of our state,” he said.

“The whole of North Rhine-Westphalia stands by the people of Solingen, especially the victims and their families.”

The attack occurred at the Fronhof, a market square where live bands were playing and locals were celebrating the town's 650th anniversary.

The German musician who goes by the name Topic said he was playing on a nearby stage when the incident occurred. He was told about what happened but was asked to continue “to avoid causing a mass panic attack”, he wrote on Instagram.

He was eventually told to stop, and “since the attacker was still on the run, we hid in a nearby store while police helicopters circled above us.”

Up to 75,000 visitors had been expected to attend the three days of the festival.

“It tears my heart apart that there was an attack on our city,” Solingen Mayor Tim Kurzbach said.

“I have tears in my eyes when I think of what we have lost.”

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Saturday that the perpetrator of the attack must punished with the full force of the law.

“The attack in Solingen is a terrible event that has shocked me greatly. An attacker has brutally killed several people. I have just spoken to Solingen’s Mayor Tim Kurzbach. We mourn the victims and stand by their families,” Mr Scholz said on X.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier also spoke to the mayor on Saturday morning.

“The heinous act in Solingen shocks me and our country. We mourn those killed and worry about those injured and I wish them strength and a speedy recovery from all my heart,” Mr Steinmeier said.

The organisers of the festival have cancelled the rest of the event following the attack.

State Interior Minister Herbert Reul described the incident as an attack on human life but did not speculate on the possible motive behind it.

“Out of nowhere, a man armed with a knife stabbed people at random and killed them,” he said.

“Why? Nobody knows. We cannot say anything yet about the motive.”

In June, a 29-year-old policeman died after being stabbed in Mannheim, in south-west Germany, during an attack on a right-wing demonstration.

There has been concern about increased knife violence in Germany, and federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser recently proposed toughening weapons laws to allow only knives with a blade measuring up to 6cm to be carried in public, rather than the length of 12cm that is currently allowed.

Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) has counted around a dozen Islamist-motivated attacks since 2000.

One of the biggest was in 2016, when a Tunisian drove a lorry into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 and injuring dozens.