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Police outside the venue in Chautauqua where Rushdie was attacked
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LINDSAY DEDARIO / REUTERS
In a press conference, the police in Chautauqua announced the first details about the knife attack on author Salman Rushdie late on Friday evening (German time).
The attacker is therefore a 24-year-old from New Jersey who had a ticket for the event.
A motive is not yet apparent, and there were no indications of a threat prior to the reading.
According to the police, the alleged perpetrator was arrested immediately after the attack and is now in custody.
According to initial findings, the assassin probably had no accomplices.
"At this point we believe he acted alone, but we are now trying to find out if he did," police spokesman James O'Callaghan said at a news conference on Friday.
A backpack was secured at the crime scene.
A number of search warrants are also being sought.
According to O'Callaghan, Rushdie was still undergoing surgery at the time of the press conference.
He was stabbed in the neck by the assailant during his performance in Chautauqua, New York.
Nothing is known about the condition of the Indian-British writer.
Witnesses reported that the 75-year-old was able to walk off the stage independently.
In addition to Rushdie, police said the man who was supposed to be interviewing him on stage was also slightly injured.
Meanwhile, FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Saai blamed Iran for the attack.
"The Iranian mullahs' regime is also responsible for this cowardly attack," Djir-Sarai wrote on Twitter on Friday evening.
"Everyone who wants normal relations with this regime should know that." Djir-Sarai was born in Iran and grew up in North Rhine-Westphalia.
The Iranian revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini had published a fatwa because of Rushdie's work »The Satanic Verses« (»The Satanic Verses«) from 1988, which called for the author to be killed.
Some Muslims felt their religious sensibilities were offended by the work.
Sol/dpa/Reuters
