The Austrian Minister of the Interior, Gerhard Karner, assured this Thursday that "a tragedy has been avoided" at the concerts of Taylor Swift in Vienna since the main suspect had the intention of immolating himself this Thursday or tomorrow in front of the stadium where the show was going to take place.
"A tragedy has been avoided" at Swift's concerts but the situation is "serious," said Karner, who indicated that the main suspect has confessed his plans and was very advanced in manufacturing the explosive. Police are not looking for other suspects but investigations continue.
The objective, according to the Austrian Police, was "to kill himself and a large crowd at the concert scheduled for today or tomorrow." After learning of the arrests, Taylor Swift announced yesterday the cancellation of the three concerts planned in the Austrian capital.
According to investigators, there are three detainees, a 19-year-old ringleader, a second 17-year-old suspect who had recently been hired as a member of the concert's private security detail, and a third minor under 15 years of age.
That 17-year-old boy was detained by anti-terrorist teams in the vicinity of the Ernst Happel stadium and, apparently, intended to facilitate the ringleader's actions.
Various substances were found in the searches, including hydrogen peroxide as well as technical devices and materials for making bombs, such as detonators, cables and machines to initiate an explosion.
Among the seized material, according to the Police, there is also a police siren that it is suspected was intended to be used to clear a path and facilitate arrival at the scene of the attack or escape.
The detainees had been focusing on the attack plans since the end of July and the leader of the cell had sworn allegiance to the Islamic State terrorist group.
The 19-year-old detained in Ternitz, 65 kilometers from Vienna, resigned from his job on July 25 and declared that "he had big plans for the future," Franz Ruf, director general of Public Security, explained to the press.
"Since then, he has focused on preparations for a terrorist attack," added Ruf, who indicated that they had also taken measures to change his physical appearance.
«The results of the investigation show that hydrogen peroxide was used as a precursor in the manufacture of explosives, and this explosive was indeed manufactured. The nineteen-year-old main suspect has confessed everything,” added the police official.
Ruf indicated that the Police are not looking for more suspects nor are there any other concrete indications, but he stressed, like Karner, that for the moment we must not let our guard down and the investigations must continue.
The director of the internal intelligence service (DSN), Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, confirmed that the investigation was carried out thanks to information from foreign secret services and said that the young people, especially the 19-year-old, had been radicalized on the internet.
"He consumed and spread a lot of propaganda, and as we saw after the seizure of his mobile phone yesterday, he also constantly downloaded and shared bomb-making instructions," he explained.
"There had been information about the manufacture of bombs and the necessary materials, and during the search of his house yesterday a lot of material was found," he added.
The 19-year-old jihadist's confession indicates that, in addition to the explosives, they intended to attack Swift's followers who were outside the stadium where the concert was going to be held with knives.
The goal, according to Haijawi-Pirchner, was to "kill himself and a large crowd at the concert today or tomorrow."