Austrian authorities said they arrested three male teenagers on Wednesday. They are accused of planning an attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna. Due to the threat of such an attack, the organizers had to cancel three of the singer’s performances.
The main suspect, a 19-year-old Austrian citizen, was arrested in the town of Ternitz, about 50 kilometers from Vienna, said the head of the Directorate for State Security and Intelligence, Omar Haijawi-Pirchner.
Haijawi-Pirchner said at a press conference on Thursday that the suspect had planned a suicide attack with knives and explosives to kill “as many people as possible” at the concert.
Officials said they found explosives, detonators and chemicals in the 19-year-old’s home and that he had studied bomb-making techniques.
The young man was “obviously radicalized by the Islamic State” and had sworn allegiance to the leader of the terrorist organization, said Haijawai-Pirchner.
He is cooperating with the authorities and is fully prepared to take part in the plot, Haijawi-Pirchner added.
Franz Ruf, Director General for Public Security at the Interior Ministry, said the suspect had been planning the attack since July and had North Macedonian roots.
Authorities released a photo of the young man posing with knives. ROLAND SCHLAGER/APA/AFP via Getty Images
The other two youths arrested are a 15-year-old and a 17-year-old. The 17-year-old refused to speak to the authorities, who had found propaganda from the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda in his house.
The Austrian citizen with Turkish and Croatian roots worked for a building services company that was contracted to provide services at the concert venue. The authorities did not disclose which services these were.
Officials said he had just broken up with his girlfriend and was arrested outside the concert stadium.
Neither the 19-year-old nor the 17-year-old had tickets for the shows, authorities added.
Little information was provided about the 15-year-old, who authorities said was also questioned by police.
Ruf said the three suspects had been in contact with other people who knew about the planned attack. However, authorities were not looking for any other suspects.
Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said foreign intelligence services had helped uncover the plot, which led to concert organizers having to cancel the Eras Tour performances on Wednesday.
Some amazed fans from other continents had already arrived for the concerts planned for Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Instead of the concert, numerous fans gathered near the venue on Thursday to sing Swift’s songs in front of the police.
Taylor Swift fans held their own informal meeting at Stephansplatz in Vienna on August 8th. Thomas Kronsteiner/Getty Images
Ewald Tatar, head of concert promoter Barracuda Music, said at a press conference that the shows had been cancelled for the safety of concertgoers and people outside the stadium.
Tatar expected up to 15,000 people to gather at the stadium in the hours before the shows began, and nearly 100,000 people would gather inside and outside the stadium before Swift took the stage.
“I have to say that despite everything, I am very happy with this decision,” Tatar told reporters, saying management made the “right” choice.
Barracuda Music has announced that all tickets will be refunded within 10 days.
There is heightened alert in Europe about the impact of ISIS on pop concerts after the group carried out several mass attacks, including a bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester in 2017 that left 22 people dead.
