Suspect in Taylor Swift Concert Terror Plot Planned Suicide Attack with 'Explosives and Knives,' Officials Say

Mar. 15, 2025

Austrian officials are revealing more information about thealleged terror plotthat canceled all three ofTaylor Swift’s planned Eras Tour concerts in Vienna over the weekend.

Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, head of Austria’s Directorate of State Security and Intelligence, shared in anews conferenceon Thursday, Aug. 8 that the 19-year-old Austrian suspect they detained admitted to intending “to carry out an attack” at Swift’s concert “using explosives and knives,” according toNBC News,CNNandLe Monde.

“His aim was to kill himself and a large number of people during the concert either today or tomorrow,”  he added, according toLe Monde. The Grammy winner’s concerts were originally scheduled to take place on Thursday, Friday and Saturday night.

Haijawi-Pirchner said, per NBC News, that investigators found items including hydrogen peroxide, detonators, detonator cables and homemade explosives that were already assembled at the man’s apartment.

The 19-year-old was “clearly radicalized in the direction of the Islamic State (IS),” officials said at the news conference, adding that “large concerts” are “often a target of Islamist attacks,” according to NBC News.

This included a 17-year-old who worked at a facility management company that would have provided services to the Ernst Happel Stadium, which was Swift’s concert venue, and a 15-year-old who had been in the stadium area when he was detained. They noted that the 15-year-old refused to speak with authorities so far.

Taylor Swift on July 5, 2024, in Amsterdam, Netherlands.Aldara Zarraoa/Getty

Aldara Zarraoa/Getty

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Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said that a foreign intelligence agency tipped officials off to the scheme, according to CNN. A source previously told the outlet that U.S. agencies were the ones that alerted the Vienna government.

“The situation was serious, the situation is serious. But we can also say: A tragedy was prevented,” Karner said at the press conference.

Taylor Swift performs onstage on July 9, 2024, in Zurich, Switzerland.Noam Galai/TAS24/Getty

Noam Galai/TAS24/Getty

This came hours after it was announced that Swift canceled all three of her Vienna shows. Apromoter postre-shared on theofficial Taylor Nation account’s Instagram Stories said the concerts were canceled for “safety” reasons.

Swift’s next set of Eras Tour concerts are still scheduled in London from Aug. 15-20.

source: people.com