To kill “as many as possible” of those who would gather around the concert venue of the American pop star Taylor Swift in Vienna, either by driving them away with his car or by launching an attack with a knife or explosives, the 19-year-old jihadist from North Macedonia Beran A., as he himself confessed. Authorities have also arrested a 17-year-old of Turkish-Croatian descent and a 15-year-old with Turkish roots.

According to Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner, the 19-year-old, who is holder of an Austrian passporthas admitted that his plan included a suicide attack outside Ernst Happel Stadium either today or tomorrow, where around 20,000 non-ticketed Taylor Swift fans would gather for her concert. Beran A. himself had not bought a ticket.

As part of the investigation by the Austrian authorities, knives, explosives, counterfeit banknotes and a police “beacon”, which he intended to use in order to reach the stadium pretending to be a police officer, were seized from the apartment of the arrested person, as Anders Breivik had done in the massacre of Utoja, Norway. The 19-year-old was also making an explosive device with the chemical substance TATP as a key component. As the Austrian interior minister said, the young jihadist on July 25 resigned from his job – at a steel factory, from where he systematically stole chemicals -, saying “I have big plans”. His father also works in the same factory. The suspect then changed his appearance, adapting to the pattern of appearance of the jihadists of the “Islamic State”, while previously watching propaganda “sermons” and videos with instructions for the construction of explosive devices. The authorities also have at their disposal visual material with the 19-year-old swearing allegiance to the current leader of “IS”. As the Austrian newspaper “Kurier” reports, the neighbors of Beran A. had detected the change in his appearance. “It was like a scene from the horror cell,” said one of them.

The elite Austrian counter-terrorist unit Cobra arrested the jihadist outside the “Ernst Happel” stadium, where the concerts were to take place, and found “IS” material on him. He initially refused to talk, but later described his plans in detail. At the same time, a 15-year-old and a 17-year-old, who were meeting with him recently, are being interrogated. The first, of Turkish descent and a member of a terrorist network in Vienna, told the police that the 19-year-old had been dealing with explosives a lot lately and that, when asked why he did it, he replied: “You’ll find out later.” The 17-year-old Turkish-Croatian, who worked at the stadium, was found to belong to one of the immigrant gangs from Syria, Chechnya and Afghanistan, which have been systematically clashing in the Austrian capital lately. During his arrest, also near the stadium, he was also carrying “Islamic State” material. However, the Minister of the Interior clarified that for the time being no other suspect is being sought in the case and that there is no information about the risk of an attack at another event.

Among the fans of the American singer frustration prevails for the cancellation of the three concerts in Vienna. Chancellor Karl Nehammer expressed his understanding of this, but emphasized that safety always comes first. “I understand very well that the grief is very great. Fans will have to process it. Moms and dads are taking care of their kids who were really looking forward to the concert. But safety comes first,” said Mr. Nehammer, adding that the organizers acted responsibly and logically in deciding to cancel the performances, while recalling that in similar cases, in Moscow, Paris and Manchester, concert-goers were targeted by terrorists. “Such an attack was planned for us as well. Thank God, this tragedy was avoided,” he said. However, hundreds of Taylor Swift fans gathered earlier today at St. Stephen’s Square in Vienna’s historic center and sang her hits, exchanging “friendship bracelets” with lyrics from the songs. Many of them even cried, as they were disappointed by the cancellation of the concerts.