A teenager posted a video online confessing to the plot, telling people he had “big plans” (File)
Berlin:
A 19-year-old man has been detained in Austria for allegedly plotting to kill people outside a stadium during a Taylor Swift concert, leading to the cancellation of the pop star’s three shows in Vienna this week.
Two other teenagers were identified as suspects.
Here’s what law enforcement officials said about the three.
THE 19 YEAR OLD YOUNG
The Austrian citizen with roots in North Macedonia was arrested in the early hours of Wednesday during a police raid at his home in Ternitz, a town near the border with Hungary.
The teenager, who posted a video online confessing to the plot, quit his job on July 25, telling people he “had big plans,” public security chief Franz Ruf told reporters on Thursday.
The suspect recently changed his appearance and consumed and shared Islamic propaganda online, security officials said, adding that he had pledged allegiance to Islamic State but also had sympathies for al Qaeda.
A neighbor told Austrian broadcaster Puls24 that the young man kept to himself and had grown a “Taliban beard”.
During a search of his home, law enforcement authorities seized various substances and tools used to build bombs, as well as Islamic State propaganda, 21,000 euros ($23,000) in counterfeit money, machetes, knives and blank ammunition.
Kurier newspaper, citing sources familiar with the situation, reported that the suspect stole the chemicals from his former place of work, a metal processing company also in Ternitz. Authorities did not comment on where he obtained the chemicals, adding that this was the focus of the investigation.
THE 17 YEAR OLD
After initially being informed of a single suspect, Austrian investigators found the other two, including a 17-year-old Austrian citizen with Turkish-Croatian roots who was arrested in Vienna on Wednesday afternoon.
He had been performing visibly in the Ernst Happel Stadium area, where Swift’s concerts would take place on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
The 17-year-old had just a few days ago gotten a job at a company that provided services at the stadium.
The boy, who also appears to have been radicalized and was already known to authorities, had recently broken up with his girlfriend, Ruf said.
He has not yet given a statement to police, so his exact role in the plot is unclear, but he had extensive contact with the main suspect, authorities said.
THE 15 YEARS
The third and final suspect is an Austrian citizen with Turkish ancestry.
During interrogation, the young man said the prime suspect had changed considerably in recent months and also regularly asked about devices for igniting explosives, authorities said.
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