Suspect in Taylor Swift Vienna concert plot confessed to planning suicide attack, officials say
The prime suspect in the plot to attack Taylor Swift’s upcoming Eras Tour shows in Vienna said he had planned to kill himself and a large number of other people.
MAINZ, Germany — The prime suspect in a plot to attack Taylor Swift’s upcoming "Eras Tour" shows in Vienna confessed that he had planned to kill himself and a large number of other people with knives and explosive devices, officials in Austria said Thursday.
The 19-year-old Austrian with North Macedonian roots had downloaded manuals for bomb building, Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, head of Austria's Directorate of State Security and Intelligence, told a news conference.
They also found hydrogen peroxide, homemade explosives, detonators and detonator cables at his apartment, he added. Explosives had been assembled, he said.
Authorities display a photo of a man arrested in connection with a plot to attack Taylor Swift's Eras Tour in Vienna, Austria, on Thursday.Roland Schlager / AFP - Getty Images“The situation was serious, the situation is serious. But we can also say: A tragedy was prevented,” Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said at the same news conference. “Large concerts are often a target of Islamist attacks,” he added.
Haijawi-Pirchner said Islamic State terrorist group and Al Qaeda material had been found at the home of the second suspect in the foiled plot, a 17-year-old Austrian citizen with Turkish and Croatian roots.
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