A major manhunt is underway for a knifeman who killed three and injured eight others at a German diversity festival on Friday night.
The man cut the throats of his victims during the attack in the western German city of Solingen, which was celebrating the Festival of Diversity to mark the city’s 650th anniversary.
Isis claimed responsibility for the attack on Saturday evening, saying the attacker was a “soldier of the Islamic State”, but the group provided no immediate evidence to support the claim.
Meanwhile, a special policing unit joined the search for the suspect with a home for asylum seekers raided, according to German news agency DPA.
Police have not ruled out terrorism as a possible motive, although the investigation into the motive is still ongoing.
A 15-year-old boy, who police believe knew the attack was going to take place before it happened, has been arrested – but he is not believed to be the perpetrator.
At a press conference earlier on Saturday, police confirmed the deceased were two men aged 67 and 56 and a 56-year-old woman – but they have not yet been publicly identified.
Eight others were injured including four who were injured “very seriously”, and are currently fighting for their lives in hospital.
The tragedy unfolded shortly after 2130 local time [1930 GMT] on Friday when witnesses reported to police an attack on people in the Fronhof, Solingen’s central square.
Festival organiser Phillip Müller then asked people to leave “calmly”, informing festival goers that the perpetrator had not been caught.
Markus Caspers, from the counterterrorism section of the public prosecutors office, said: “So far we have not been able to identify a motive, but looking at the overall circumstances, we cannot rule out” the possibility of terrorism.
While it is unclear who the attacker is, police have said they are searching for a male.
No description of the attacker has been released by police, who said they do not have enough detail on what he looks like to release a description to the public.
It is also unknown whether the attacker was previously acquainted with the 15-year-old with whom he spoke before carrying out the knife attack.
Thorsten Fleiss from the German police, who was the chief of operations on Friday night, said that police are conducting various searches and investigations in the entire state of North Rhine Westphalia that will continue throughout Saturday.
In the evening, images emerged of armed police stationed inside a building in the city.
Meanwhile, German chancellor Olaf Scholz said the perpetrator must be found quickly and face the “fullest extent of the law”.
President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said it was a “heinous act” adding that the attacker “needs to be brought to justice”.
“Let’s stand together – against hatred and violence,” he added.