Here’s what we know so far.
The suspects are teenagers
The main suspect is a 19-year-old Austrian who began planning the attack in July, the Associated Press reported.
“He wanted to carry out an attack in the area outside the stadium, killing as many people as possible using the knives or even using the explosive devices he had made,” said Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, the head of the Directorate of State Security and Intelligence.
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The suspect had uploaded an oath of allegiance to the current leader of the Islamic State group militia and was “clearly radicalized ... and thinks it is right to kill infidels,” Haijawi-Pirchner said.
CNN reported that investigators found chemicals, explosive devices, detonators and 21,000 euros in counterfeit cash at his home.
The second suspect, a 17-year-old Austrian, had a job with a company providing services at the venue for the concerts and was arrested by special police forces near the stadium. Investigators said they found Islamic State group and al-Qaida material at his home.
On Thursday night, a third teenager was arrested in connection with the plot, Austria’s interior minister said.
Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said an 18-year-old was taken into custody in Vienna after allegedly being in contact with the main suspect. The teen had also taken “an oath of allegiance” to the Islamic State, Karner said.
“He had been in contact with the main perpetrator, but is not directly connected to the attack plans,” Karner said. “But, as was found out a few days ago, he took an oath of allegiance specifically to the IS on Aug. 6.”
Another suspect, a 15-year old Austrian national with Turkish roots, was also being questioned by authorities, according to NBC News.
The names of the suspects have not been released.
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‘A tragedy was prevented’
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said the cancellation of Swift’s shows “were bitter disappointment for all fans in Austria” but necessary for everyone’s safety.
“We live in a time in which there are forces that want to fight our joy of life and our freedom with terrorist means,” Nehammer wrote on X. “I can understand that many who have been looking forward to these concerts for a long time are now sad. But safety comes first and a tragedy was prevented.”
Nehammer said the suspects had “very concrete and detailed plans” to carry out the attack and he thanked the intelligence services and authorities leading the investigation for preventing what could have been a tragedy.
“The main perpetrator confessed that he and two accomplices wanted to carry out a suicide attack,” Nehammer wrote on X. “He had acquired explosives and weapons. It is unimaginable what devastating consequences this would have had. It would have meant numerous deaths and injuries.”
Three sold-out concerts were canceled
Swift had been scheduled to perform in Vienna as part of The Eras Tour. The concerts were to be held at Ernst Happel Stadium on Aug. 8, 9, and 10.
Up to 65,000 people were going to be inside the stadium for each show and thousands of additional fans were expected to gather outside the venue, where authorities said the attack was meant to occur.
Concert organizers said customers who purchased tickets to the canceled shows will receive refunds.
Swift’s next stop on The Eras Tour will London, where she’s scheduled to play five shows at Wembley Stadium from Aug. 15 to 20, followed by six shows in Toronto (Nov. 14-23) and three shows in Vancouver in December.
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London Mayor Sadiq Khan said that while he understood Vienna’s reasons for canceling, “We’re going to carry on.” Khan said the capital’s authorities were prepared for shows there following lessons learned from a 2017 attack at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, that killed 22 people.
Concerts have been targeted before
In May 2017, a suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England killed 22 people. In October 2017, a gunman killed dozens of people attending a country music festival in Las Vegas when he opened fire on the crowd from a high-rise casino suite.
Swift mentioned those incidents in an interview with Elle magazine in 2019, and described it as her biggest fear.
“After the Manchester Arena bombing and the Vegas concert shooting, I was completely terrified to go on tour this time because I didn’t know how we were going to keep 3 million fans safe over seven months,” she said. “There was a tremendous amount of planning, expense, and effort put into keeping my fans safe. My fear of violence has continued into my personal life. I carry QuikClot army grade bandage dressing, which is for gunshot or stab wounds.”
In the interview with Elle, Swift said although she prepares for bad things, she tries to embrace all the good that’s around her.
“Every day I try to remind myself of the good in the world, the love I’ve witnessed and the faith I have in humanity,” she said. “We have to live bravely in order to truly feel alive, and that means not being ruled by our greatest fears.”
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.
Emily Sweeney can be reached at emily.sweeney@globe.com. Follow her @emilysweeney and on Instagram @emilysweeney22.
