SOLINGEN (AP) – German police said early Sunday that a 26-year-old man has turned himself in. He claimed to be responsible for the deadly knife attack in Solingen that left three people dead and eight injured at a festival marking the city’s 650th anniversary.
Düsseldorf police said in a statement that the man “claimed to be responsible for the attack” and added that he had already been arrested previously.
“This person’s involvement in the crime is currently being intensively investigated,” police said.
On Saturday, the militant terrorist group Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, but offered no evidence. The extremist group said on its news site that the attacker targeted Christians and that he was an “Islamic State soldier” who carried out the attacks on Friday night “to avenge Muslims in Palestine and elsewhere.” The claim could not be immediately verified.
Officials had previously said they had arrested a 15-year-old boy on suspicion of knowing about the planned attack and failing to inform authorities, but he was not the attacker. Two female witnesses told police they had heard the boy and an unidentified person discussing intentions related to the bloodshed before the attack, officials said.
Shortly after 9:30 p.m. on Friday, the police were informed that a man had attacked several people with a knife on the Fronhof, the city’s central square.
The three dead were two men aged 67 and 56 and a 56-year-old woman, authorities said. Police said the attacker apparently aimed specifically at his victims’ throats.
Solingen, a city of around 160,000 inhabitants near the major cities of Cologne and Düsseldorf, held a “Festival of Diversity” to celebrate its anniversary. It began on Friday and was scheduled to last until Sunday. Attractions such as live music, cabaret and acrobatics were offered on several stages in central streets.
The attack occurred in the crowd in front of a stage. Hours later, the stage lights were still on while police and forensics searched the cordoned-off area for clues, but the rest of the festival was canceled.
The IS militia declared its caliphate in large parts of Iraq and Syria about a decade ago, but now has no control over any country and has lost many prominent leaders. The group is rarely found in the headlines of the world press.
Yet the group continues to recruit members and claim responsibility for deadly attacks around the world, including deadly operations in Iran and Russia earlier this year that killed dozens of people. Its sleeper cells in Syria and Iraq continue to carry out attacks on government forces in both countries, as well as on US-backed Syrian fighters.
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