The police in Germany were conducting a large-scale manhunt on Saturday after a person armed with a knife killed at least three people at a festival in the western city of Solingen on Friday night. The attacker, who escaped, also wounded eight others, five of them severely.
Local news outlets reported that a lone attacker had turned on the crowds during the fair celebrating the 650th anniversary of the city’s founding, which attracted thousands.
“This evening, we are all in shock, horror and great sadness in Solingen,” Tim Kurzbach, the city’s mayor, said in a post on Facebook. “We all wanted to celebrate our city’s anniversary together and now we have to mourn the dead and injured.”
The motive for the attack was unclear on Saturday.
The police were interviewing witnesses and those victims able to talk for details that could help catch the attacker, the police in Düsseldorf said in a statement on Saturday.
The attack took place at around 9:40 p.m. in a central square in Solingen, about 14 miles east of Düsseldorf, where the city fair was underway, the police said.
The area quickly emptied of visitors as the police tried to catch the assailant and set up barriers, news outlets reported. Videos from the scene showed a strong police presence.
The city canceled the rest of the festival after the attack.
Nearly three months ago, a police officer was killed in a knife attack in Mannheim, 130 miles south. In that attack, six people, including the officer, were stabbed at an anti-Islamist rally.
John Yoon contributed reporting.
