On Friday, August 23, 2024, there was a fatal knife attack in Solingen, Germany, which resulted in the death of three people, a woman, age 56, and two men, aged 67 and 56, along with eight others caught in the cross-fire with injuries and half of which with critical wounds.
The attack happened during a “festival of diversity”, a three-day event in Solingen where large groups of people were gathered in honor of the “650th anniversary of the city’s founding” (said by cnn.com). During this festival, it was noted that the perpetrator attacked near the stage on which a musical act had been performed. 
The attacker is still unknown, as well as the motives, which has led some civilians to believe that terrorism may still be an option as far as motives, but these theories have yet to be confirmed by anyone. As police hurry to find a perpetrator and motive, a policeman by the name of Thorsten Fleiß made it known to the public during a press conference that this said attacker seemed to be going for his target necks, saying, “After evaluating the initial images, we assume that it was a very targeted attack on the neck.”
Lars Breitzke, an eyewitness, claims the attack happened right in front of him, and the way he realized something was wrong, and an attack was happening was when he saw the face of one of the performers on stage, and then not long after, he saw someone in front of him “fall.”
A German DJ performer posted on his Instagram that during that track, they told him to continue with his performance “to avoid mass panic.” Not long after, he, Topic, and the other performers left to hide in a store. At the same time, “police helicopters circled above.”
According to the police on Saturday, a 15-year-old boy was arrested because of an alleged “prior knowledge” or “involvement” of the knife attack on Friday. After that arrest, there was another arrest made at a refugee home because of a police operation that was reported.
Authorities were said to be “doing everything they can to apprehend the perpetrator and determine the attack,” according to Interior Minister Nancy Faeser. The city mayor, Tim Kurzbach, announced publicly on Facebook, “We all wanted to celebrate our city’s anniversary together, and now we have to mourn the dead and injured.” 
Because of this attack, locals have been in a frenzy of worry and panic and have been advised to stay alert and cautious.
CNN says, “Friday’s attack comes amid rising rates of knife crime in Germany, recently prompting Interior Minister Faeser to propose tightened laws to tackle the issue.” Along with this, they mention that according to authority information, there have there’s been “8,951 incidents of knife crime that caused serious bodily harm in Germany in 2023 – 791 cases more than the previous year.” This statistical information has proven to German authorities that they should have more enforcement at events like this one to ensure the audience’s safety of the audience.
