A third teenage suspect has been arrested in connection with the planned terror plot targeting Taylor Swift's now-cancelled Eras Tour concerts in Vienna, Austria.
The 18-year-old Iraqi citizen was taken into custody yesterday (August 8), the Associated Press reports. Like the other two suspects, authorities said that he had sworn "an oath of allegiance" to the Islamic State Group and Al-Qaida. According to Interior Minister Gerhard Karner, this third suspect "comes from the social environment" of the main suspect, but isn't "directly linked to the plot."
In a statement to AP, the Austrian Interior Ministry said this new arrest "underscores the broad scope of the ongoing investigation," adding that "authorities are taking decisive action against anyone who might be involved in terrorist activities or exhibits radical tendencies."
The main suspect, a 19-year-old, confessed to police that he was planning to "kill as many people as possible" — and then kill himself — after targeting onlookers gathered outside Ernst Happel Stadium (up to 30,000 each night of Swift's stint in the city, in addition to the 65,000 inside the venue) with knives and/or homemade explosives, which investigators found in his possession.
A 17-year-old suspected accomplice was also taken into custody on Tuesday (August 6), but he is still refusing to speak with authorities as of this writing. He had recently taken a job working for an events service provider at the stadium.
The pop star is scheduled to complete the overseas leg of the Eras Tour with five shows at London's Wembley Stadium next week, which Mayor Sadiq Khan has said will "carry on." He told Sky News yesterday (August 8) that London is "looking forward to welcoming Taylor Swift back."
Khan continued, "We have a huge amount of experience in policing these events, we're never complacent, many lessons were learned after the awful Manchester Arena attack. The police work closely, not just with City Hall, but with councils, but also with those who host concerts, like the Taylor Swift concert coming up over the next couple of weeks."
"I'm sure Vienna has got its own reasons to cancel the Taylor Swift concerts," he added. "We're going to carry on, working closely with police [and] ensuring that the Taylor Swift concerts can take place in London safely."
Swift herself has yet to issue a statement on the situation.