Witnesses quoted by the local newspaper ‘Solinger Tageblatt’ have confirmed that it was a knife attack and the authorities have asked the population to leave the downtown area, where a concert was being held to coincide with the anniversary of the founding of the city.

At around 9:45 p.m. (local time), a man unknown identity has begun to stabbing people indiscriminately in Fronhof, a market in the city centre where a stage had been set up for the events commemorating the 650 years of Solingen.

After the incidentthe festival has been suspended and the security forces have established a surveillance perimeter, without the circumstances of the event or the possible identity of the attacker, who is located, having been disclosed for now. fledsources from the Düsseldorf police have reported.

At the same time, thousands of people were present at the site They have left the area at the request of the authorities“shocked but calm,” one of the festival’s co-organizers, Philipp Müller, told ‘Solinger Tageblatt’.

Attacker characteristics

German police have launched an extensive search for the attacker and have provided the first description of the suspect.

According to BILD, the man who attacked the people in Solingen has the following characteristics:

• Man between 20 and 30 years old
• Height between 1.70 and 1.75 meters
• Athletic build
• Thick and short beard
• Dressed in black with a cap

Police have warned that if you come across a profile that fits the description, you should not speak to the suspicious person, but instead call the emergency number immediately. “People in the city centre should be cautious,” said a Düsseldorf police spokesman, referring to the suspect who is still at large. “Anyone who sees a suspicious person should immediately call 110 and not speak to them,” he said.

“In shock”

Solingen Mayor Tim Kurzbach said he was “in shock” and felt “fear and great sadness” after the incident. “We all wanted to celebrate the anniversary of our city together and now we have to mourn the dead and injured,” he said in a Facebook post, adding that thinking about the attack “breaks my heart.”

The German Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hendrik Wüst, also said that the German state “is united by shock and sadness.”

“In these dark hours, the hearts and minds of the people of our state and beyond are in Solingen, where a brutal and senseless act of violence has struck at the heart of our state“, he lamented through his X account, thanking the rescue teams and the police deployed in the area.

German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach also spoke on the same platform, hoping that “the rescuers will be able to save the injured and that the police will be able to catch the cowardly and pathetic escapee.”