Police search for watch and cell phone after fatal knife attack

Investigators are searching for a cell phone and a watch after the fatal knife attack in Solingen. The public is being asked for help. What is this all about?

Three weeks after the fatal knife attack at a city festival in Solingen, investigators are publicly searching for a smartphone and a wristwatch. Both items could provide important clues to the terrorist attack in which three people were killed and eight others injured.

Pictures of the wanted cell phone and wristwatch were published on the North Rhine-Westphalia police wanted portal. The police are asking for help from the public: “Who can provide information about the Samsung cell phone or analog wristwatch shown? The cell phone was left or lost in Solingen-Mitte on August 23, 2024 or August 24, 2024 in a possibly damaged condition. Have you found the cell phone?” it says.

The police had recently searched a green area near a bus stop where the suspect, Issa Al H., is believed to have boarded a bus on the evening of the attack.

The attack occurred on August 23 during a city festival in Solingen. An attacker killed three people with a knife and injured eight others. The suspected perpetrator, a 26-year-old Syrian named Issa Al H., is currently in custody on suspicion of murder. The terrorist organization Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for the attack.

As “Der Spiegel” reports, investigators have already found a cell phone that Issa Al H. is said to have found. This device, a Chinese product, was discovered on a meadow near the crime scene. Another phone, which was previously found in a drain along with a tablet, does not appear to belong to the suspect. A spokeswoman for the Federal Prosecutor's Office did not want to comment on this when asked.