Planned attack

17-year-old was radicalized by Islamism

The teenager arrested in Elmshorn in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein had probably actually planned an Islamist-motivated attack on a Christmas market.

"The accused's Islamist extremist attitude ultimately led to sufficiently concrete plans for an attack," the public prosecutor's office in Flensburg announced on Tuesday. According to the information, the young man was arrested last Wednesday and was subsequently remanded in custody.

According to the public prosecutor's office, state security officers from the State Office of Criminal Investigation in Schleswig-Holstein investigated the 17-year-old and found that he had become "considerably radicalized". Based on these findings, an arrest warrant was then executed at the accused's place of residence on November 6. He was charged with the preparation of a serious crime endangering the state and conspiracy to murder, the authorities announced.

Wanted to kill people with a truck
According to the authorities, the suspect is a German citizen born in Germany. It did not provide any further details about the suspect or his alleged plans to carry out the attack. According to media reports, the young man is said to have planned an attack with a truck. According to "Spiegel Online", foreign intelligence services are said to have pointed him out to German security authorities.