Taylor Swift was all set to perform shows from Thursday to Saturday in Vienna's Ernst Happl Stadium. The organisers were expecting a crowd of 65,000+ people. But a shocking climax has revealed that an attack was being planned underway that would have put the artist's and all of the people's lives under scrutiny. Following this, the Austrian authorities have taken action in their capital city, Vienna and have cancelled Swift's 3 shows that were lined up.
The organisers have promised that a full refund of Swift's concert will be initiated to all people who had already booked tickets.
Who are the suspects?
We're yet to tell you the most horrifying part about this controversy. The attack was allegedly the work of three teen boys. They are already behind bars.
The prime suspect is a 19-year-old boy. He was arrested from his home on Wednesday morning and as evidence, the police found a hoard of explosive devices, denominators, hoarded police blue flashing light, knives and 21,000 cash in Euros.
Another suspect is a 17-year-old boy. His motive is not clear yet but his method was. His family was the provider of some services at the concert and this was going to be his easy way onto the field and implement his team's explosive mission. The last of the Three Musketeers is a 15-year-old boy. No solid proof of direct implementation has been found against him yet. The police have yet to take a stand on his status as a suspect or just a witness on the scene.
"Aim was to kill myself..." says the prime suspect
The head of the Domestic Intelligence Agency, Omar Haijawi-Pirchner reveals about the 19-year-old that "his aim was to kill himself, and a large number of people at the concert, either today (Wednesday) or tomorrow."
"He said he intended to carry out an attack using explosives and knives," Omar tells reporters in Vienna on Thursday.
Allegedly he had stolen a bunch of chemicals from his last job at the metal processing company in his home town which he quit soon. The Kourier newspaper revealed that he was "making progress in building a bomb." And if reports are to be believed and dots to be connected, he quit his job at the end of last month and told people that he had "big plans."
Austrian Chancellor's statement
Austria's Chancellor Karl Nehammer has thanked the DSN i.e. Directory of Security and Intelligence for their prompt and in a statement said, "A tragedy was prevented."
He also took to social media platform X and said his thanks to the authorities for their quick and prompt action. "Thanks to the intensive cooperation of our police and the newly established DSN with foreign services, the threat was identified early on, combated and a tragedy prevented," the translated version reads.
Swifties take it to the streets
Taylor Swift's fandom lives in breathing awe of her presence. So when the news of the cancellation got out, it caused many hearts to break.
Swifties quoted how the abrupt cancellation "felt like a breakup."
Some fans took to the streets to show their love and admiration, singing and vibing to her songs. They went up to the Corneliusgasse because the similar sounding "Cornelia Street" is a Taylor Swift track from her 2019 album "Lover." A fan took to Instagram and posted a video of this get-together of the fans on the streets.
Overcome with emotion, she writes, "It could have been just an awful day for us swifties in Vienna but we went to the streets in our Junior Jewels shirt and sparkly dresses, with our 13s in our hands and our friendship bracelets, and we spent the afternoon together singing in the street and suddenly the day was a little less awful."
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