The 650th anniversary of the founding of the city of Solingen was to be celebrated with the "Festival of Diversity" throughout the weekend, but it ended in horror. Three people died in a stabbing attack. The police are still looking for the aggressor.
Shock in Germany after the knife attack at a party in the city of Solingen, where as a result three people lost their lives and eight others were injured. Solingen wanted to celebrate the 650th anniversary of the foundation with the "Festival of Diversity", but it ended in horror.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke on Saturday morning for the first time since the attack. "The attack in Solingen is a terrible event that shocks me a lot. A killer brutally killed several people," he wrote on the platform X, and spoke on the phone with the mayor of Solingen, Tim Kurzbach. "We mourn the victims and stand by the relatives." The social-democratic politician wished the injured a speedy recovery. "The murderer must be caught quickly and punished with the full severity of the law," requested Scholz.
Even the president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, expressed his shock. "Solingen's terrible act shocks me, it shocks us, it shocks the whole country," the German president wrote on Platform X.
"We mourn for those who lost their lives and we pray for the wounded, with all my heart I wish them strength and a speedy recovery." Steinmeier asked to stand united against hatred and violence.

"It breaks my heart"
The Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hendrik Wüst, and the mayor of Solingen, Tim Kurzbach, expressed their shock. "We all wanted to celebrate our city's anniversary together and now we have to mourn the deaths and injuries. It breaks my heart that there was such an attack in our city. I have tears in my eyes when I think of those we lost, I pray for all those who are still fighting for their lives," Kurzbach wrote on Facebook.
Even Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens) condemned the attack on a city festival in Solingen where three people lost their lives. Habeck said Saturday that "bad news, the worst" has come from the city of Solingen. "Violence against people who just wanted to celebrate with joy is deeply reprehensible," Habeck said, and he expects the police to do everything they can to find the perpetrator as soon as possible.
The perpetrator is on the run - The police evaluates the registrations of citizens
The police have categorized the attack as a "terrorist attack", but they still do not know exactly who the aggressor was, whether he acted alone or had allies. With a wide operation, the police are still searching. The police ask that there be no speculation, as in social media, about the appearance of an Arab, and cannot confirm if the aggressor was an Arab. According to information from tagesschau, the police hope that people who filmed with their mobile phones during the concert in Fronhof and may have recorded without the knowledge of the author. The police already have "different pieces of the puzzle, but they still don't fit together", writes tagesschau./ DW