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A shock was sent through the music world when three teens were arrested on Wednesday over a terrorist plot to run down Taylor Swift fans outside at Ernst-Happel Stadium in Vienna, Austria and then launch an attack with knives, machetes and a “dirty bomb.”
A 19-year-old, a 17-year-old and a 15-year-old, all males, were arrested and Taylor Swift’s three concerts were canceled after U.S. intelligence was passed to Europol and Austrian police, sources told ABC News.
The 19-year-old reportedly enlisted the two younger teens to be his accomplices. He reportedly had his friends infiltrate the event by getting hired as security. The 17-year-old reportedly had been given a job with a company working at the stadium just a few days before his arrest.
65,000 to 85,000 people were expected to be in attendance at each of the three Taylor Swift concerts scheduled for Thursday, Friday and Saturday in Vienna. Around 20,000 of those fans would have been gathered outside the stadium during the shows.
The 19-year-old reportedly confessed to authorities that the plan was to drive a car into the 20,000 fans who were expected to gather outside the stadium, “kill as many people as possible,” and then kill himself.
Authorities released a photo of the 19-year-old holding two of the “zombie” knives he planned to use in the attack.
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The Sun reports that he recently been doing an apprenticeship in a stainless steel plant where his father worked and would have had access to the plant’s laboratory, which stored numerous chemicals.
A search of his home led authorities to the discovery of substances and tools used for building bombs, ISIS propaganda, 21,000 euros in counterfeit money, machetes, knives and blank ammunition.
According to U.S. intelligence, the 19-year-old pledged his support to ISIS-K on Telegram in early July.
“He was clearly radicalized in the direction of the Islamic State and thinks it is right to kill infidels,” said Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, the head of the Directorate of State Security and Intelligence.