An attack by a man armed with a knife that left three dead at a local festival in a western German city is being treated as terrorism, with possible links to the Islamic State, German prosecutors said on Sunday
The suspect is a 26-year-old man from Syria who was living in a refugee residence less than a few hundred yards from where the attack took place in the city of Solingen, the police said on Sunday. The man, wearing bloodstained clothes, approached a police car and gave himself up after 11 p.m. Saturday, according to law enforcement officials.
The police said the assailant aimed for his victims’ necks to inflict as much damage as possible.
On Sunday afternoon, the federal prosecutor’s office said it believed the suspect, identified only as Issa Al H. in keeping with strict German privacy rules, had joined the Islamic State. Officials are also investigating him on possible charges of murder and attempted murder, though so far no official charges have been filed.
The suspect “shared the ideology” of the terrorist organization and “joined the group at an undeterminable” time before Friday’s attack, Ines Peterson, spokeswoman for the federal prosecutor, said in a statement Sunday.
The Islamic State took responsibility for the attack, praising the attacker as a “soldier of the Islamic State,” according to Site Intelligence Group, which tracks extremist organizations.
On Sunday, the site of the attack was still cordoned off and guarded by the police, but mourners gathered at an adjacent church to light candles, lay flowers and leave condolence messages on a large white banner.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
