The police German announced on Saturday that it had arrested a second person in the investigation into the deadly stabbing attack committed on Friday during a popular festival in Solingen, claimed by the Islamic State organisation, whose author is on the run.
The arrest was announced as special forces were carrying out a major operation at a refugee shelter near the site of the attack, which left three people dead and four seriously injured.
READ MORE | Germany: Several dead and injured after knife attack at festival in Solingen
Police had previously reported the arrest of a 15-year-old boy suspected of “failing to report” a criminal act.
Witnesses reported seeing him talking to an individual who could be the perpetrator of the attack, said Düsseldorf’s chief prosecutor, Markus Caspers.
The deceased are two men aged 56 and 67 and a woman aged 56. Eight people were injured, four of them seriously.
The party where the stabbing took place was one of several events planned to mark the 650th anniversary of the founding of Solingen, a city in the west of the country.