Why teenage pupil held after Solingen deadly stabbing is classified an ‘Islamist threat’

Admin I Friday, October 04, 2024

 

SOLINGEN – A 15-year-old schoolboy who was detained after the August knife attack at a public festival in the German city of Solingen has been classified as a suspected Islamist. Security sources told dpa so on Friday.

The boy from the neighbouring city of Wuppertal was initially taken into preventative custody on suspicion of terrorism after the incident, which resulted in three deaths. The Islamic State terrorist group later claimed responsibility.

However, the detainee was formally categorized as an Islamist threat in September, according to the security sources. He had not previously attracted the attention of the authorities, they said.

It was not yet clear what illegal actions the pupil intended to perpetrate. In addition to an attack on Jewish institutions, an attack during a school trip to the Netherlands is also said to have been under discussion with a contact person.

A search of his home did not initially substantiate the initial suspicion.

Analysis of the boy’s mobile phone then revealed an urgent suspicion, which the district court in Wuppertal confirmed on September 20 by issuing an arrest warrant, said a spokeswoman for the public prosecutor’s office in Düsseldorf, which is leading the investigation.

The attack on August 23 at a city festival on the market square in Solingen stunned the country. In addition to the three people slain in the attack, eight were wounded. A 26-year-old Syrian man remains in police custody on suspicion of murder.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, although German authorities have not yet detailed whether the suspect had documented links to the group.