Suspect in Taylor Swift Vienna concert plot confessed to planning suicide attack, officials say

MAINZ, Germany — The prime suspect in a plot to attack Taylor Swift’s upcoming “Eras Tour“ shows in Vienna confessed that he had planned to kill himself and a large number of other people with knives and explosive devices, officials in Austria said Thursday.

The 19-year-old Austrian with North Macedonian roots had downloaded manuals for bomb building, Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, head of Austria’s Directorate of State Security and Intelligence, told a news conference.  

They also found hydrogen peroxide, homemade explosives, detonators and detonator cables at his apartment, he added. Explosives had been assembled, he said.

“The situation was serious, the situation is serious. But we can also say: A tragedy was prevented,” Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said at the same news conference.

“Large concerts are often a target of Islamist attacks,” he added.

Haijawi-Pirchner said Islamic State terrorist group and Al Qaeda material had been found at the home of the second suspect in the foiled plot, a 17-year-old Austrian citizen with Turkish and Croatian roots.

He added that the suspect had been employed for some days by a company that would have provided services at the concert, although he did not specify which services it provided.

Police also found videos and screenshots of home laboratories, which are often shared by ISIS and Al Qaeda, on the suspects’ cellphones, he added.

A third suspect, a 15-year old Austrian national with Turkish roots, was currently being questioned by authorities, he added.

No one else is being sought in connection with the plot, although others may have known about the plans and are part of the ongoing investigation, Haijawi-Pirchner said.

“There is no information of explicit danger to further concerts,” he added.

Franz Ruf, the public security director at Austria’s Interior Ministry, said the prime suspect “gave a full confession” and no one else was being sought in connection with the case.  

The United States intelligence community was the first to alert Austrian law enforcement about a potential terror attack, a senior U.S. law enforcement official told NBC News on Thursday. The U.S. intelligence community told Austria officials they had a problem and the general sense of what to look for, the official said. 

Swift had been scheduled to play at the Austrian capital’s Ernst Happel Stadium on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. An estimated 170,000 fans were expected to attend over the three days.  

After news of the plot broke Wednesday, Barracuda Music, the events’ organizer, said it had “no choice but to cancel” the shows “for everyone’s safety.”

Taylor Nation, an Instagram account run by Swift’s team, reposted the message to its story. All tickets will be refunded and ticketholders can visit a website to request refunds, the post said.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said in a post on X that “the cancelation of the Taylor Swift concerts by the organizers is a bitter disappointment for all fans in Austria.”

“The situation surrounding the apparently planned terror attack in Vienna was very serious,” he wrote.

But, he added, thanks to intensive cooperation between police, Austrian and foreign intelligence, “the threat could be recognized early on, tackled and a tragedy prevented.”

Swift has previously spoken about her concerns of a terrorist attack at one of her stadium shows. In 2019, she told Elle magazine it was her biggest fear.

“After the Manchester Arena bombing and the Vegas concert shooting, I was completely terrified to go on tour this time because I didn’t know how we were going to keep three million fans safe over seven months,” Swift said ahead of the “Lover Tour,” which was then canceled because of the Covid pandemic.

Andy Eckardt reported from Mainz, and Henry Austin reported from London.