Suspect in Taylor Swift Concert Terror Plot Planned Suicide Attack with ‘Explosives and Knives,’ Officials Say

Austrian officials are revealing more information about the alleged terror plot that canceled all three of Taylor Swift’s planned Eras Tour concerts in Vienna over the weekend.

Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, head of Austria’s Directorate of State Security and Intelligence, shared in a news conference on Thursday, Aug. 8 that the 19-year-old Austrian suspect they detained admitted to intending “to carry out an attack” at Swift’s concert “using explosives and knives,” according to NBC News, CNN and Le Monde.

“His aim was to kill himself and a large number of people during the concert either today or tomorrow,”  he added, according to Le Monde. The Grammy winner’s concerts were originally scheduled to take place on Thursday, Friday and Saturday night.

Haijawi-Pirchner said, per NBC News, that investigators found items including hydrogen peroxide, detonators, detonator cables and homemade explosives that were already assembled at the man’s apartment.

The 19-year-old was “clearly radicalized in the direction of the Islamic State (IS),” officials said at the news conference, adding that “large concerts” are “often a target of Islamist attacks,” according to NBC News.

Authorities noted that two other suspects, who were in contact with other individuals who knew about the plan, were detained, per CNN.

This included a 17-year-old who worked at a facility management company that would have provided services to the Ernst Happel Stadium, which was Swift’s concert venue, and a 15-year-old who had been in the stadium area when he was detained. They noted that the 15-year-old refused to speak with authorities so far.

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Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said that a foreign intelligence agency tipped officials off to the scheme, according to CNN. A source previously told the outlet that U.S. agencies were the ones that alerted the Vienna government.

“The situation was serious, the situation is serious. But we can also say: A tragedy was prevented,” Karner said at the press conference.

This came hours after it was announced that Swift canceled all three of her Vienna shows. A promoter post re-shared on the official Taylor Nation account‘s Instagram Stories said the concerts were canceled for “safety” reasons.

“With confirmation from government officials of a planned terrorist attack at Ernst Happel Stadium, we have no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone’s safety,” a message originally shared on the Barracuda Music page noted, adding that all tickets purchased by fans “will be automatically refunded within the next 10 business days.”

Swift’s next set of Eras Tour concerts are still scheduled in London from Aug. 15-20.