The perpetrator of the knife attack in the German city of Solingen, in which three people died and eight others were injured, remains at large.

Earlier the BILD newspaper wrote that a suspect had been arrested, however in a more recent update it states that the man who was arrested in the early hours of the morning is not the perpetrator.

Chancellor Olaf Solz spoke of a “terrible event”. In a post on the “X” platform, Chancellor Olaf Solz said he had contacted the city’s mayor and said he was “deeply shocked” by the attack.

“We grieve for the victims and sympathize with the relatives. I wish the injured a speedy recovery. The perpetrator must be caught soon and punished to the fullest extent of the law,” said Mr. Soltz.

Previously, the leaders of the other parties in the government coalition, Economy Minister Robert Hambeck (Greens) and Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) had previously expressed their grief.

Her interior minister said shocked Germany Nancy Feather of Brutality attack that killed three people and seriously injured eight others yesterday, Friday, in Solingen, western Germany.

“The brutal attack committed during the celebration of the city of Solingen deeply shocks us,” the minister said in a post on X, adding that “the security services will do everything in their power to arrest the perpetrator of the attack and to clarify her background”.

The motives of the perpetrator of the crime remain unknown.

“Statements are being taken from victims and eyewitnesses. A large police team is currently looking for the perpetrator,” the police said in a statement issued this morning.

The attack took place around 21:40 local time (22:40 Greek time) yesterday Friday, when an unidentified man attacked several people with a knife during the Solingen festival, according to police.

In a post on X, authorities are asking the public to provide any information they have, including photos and videos, that could lead to the arrest of the fleeing suspect.

“Coming out of nowhere, a man armed with a knife stabbed people at random and killed them,” North Rhine-Westphalia’s interior minister, Herbert Royle, said from the scene of the attack, which he visited overnight.

“Why; Nobody knows. We cannot say anything at this time about the motive, about this person,” he added.

After the attack, which took place during events marking the city’s 650th anniversary, much of the area was cordoned off, according to Düsseldorf police.

The strong police force that was present there overnight was assisted by members of the special forces, according to an AFP photojournalist at the scene, who added that a helicopter was also involved in the search for the attacker.

According to the local paper Solinger Tageblattshortly after 22:00 local time (23:00 Greek time) one of the organizers of the festival took the stage to interrupt the events in a square in the center of the city.

The organizer said rescue crews were trying to save people’s lives. Thousands of visitors followed his call to leave the place in peace, the newspaper added. “The atmosphere is strange” was the description of the journalist covering the event.

“People left the place shocked, but calm,” Philip Miller, one of the organizers, told the newspaper.

An eyewitness also told the Solinger Tageblatt that he was a few meters away from the scene of the attack, near the concert stage, and “he could tell from the expression on the singer’s face that something was wrong.”

“And then, a meter away from me, a man fell down,” said eyewitness Lars Braitske. At first he thought it was someone drunk. But when he turned around he saw other people lying on the ground covered in blood.

German authorities have remained on high alert in recent years as they face a twin terrorist threat, jihadism and far-right extremism.

The deadliest jihadist attack on German soil took place in December 2016: a truck plowed into a crowd at a Christmas market in central Berlin, killing 12 people.

In late May, a police officer was killed and five people were injured in a knife attack in Mannheim in western Germany at an anti-Islam rally. The attacker, a 25-year-old Afghan who had arrived in Germany in 2014, is suspected of Islamist motives.

Another threat facing the country comes from the extreme right, after several deadly attacks in recent years.