Shots fired at rave in Aarau: 22-year-old Italian woman killed, five injured
A 22-year-old woman was shot dead at a techno rave at Aarau racecourse, with five further people injured. Police are conducting a nationwide manhunt.
Deaths and injuries after shooting attack at techno party in Aarau
A 22-year-old woman was killed in a firearms attack at a techno party in the Swiss canton of Aargau during the night into Sunday. Five further people were injured. According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, police have since been conducting a nationwide manhunt for the perpetrator or perpetrators.
The deceased was an Italian national and died at the event venue. Four Swiss men and one German woman, aged between 24 and 31, were injured, ranging from lightly to seriously. All victims lived in Switzerland. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed her "deepest condolences over the death of the young Italian woman".
"The manhunt is running at full capacity nationwide," said a spokesperson for the Aargau cantonal police at a press conference early Sunday afternoon. The entire police force of the canton was deployed, supplemented by specialist and special forces. German police are also participating in the manhunt, as investigators assume the perpetrators have already left the Aarau region.
Three hypotheses — including a terror attack
Whether one or more perpetrators were involved in the attack initially remained unclear. Aargau's police commander Michael Leupold cited three possible scenarios in the early evening: a terror attack, a mass shooting, or criminal activity such as a "settling of scores in some criminal sphere". Ammunition from two different calibres was recovered at the scene — cartridges typical of pistols, as well as casings used in assault rifles. Many shots were fired in rapid succession, Leupold said.
According to police assessment, the late timing of the attack — around half past two in the morning, when many visitors had already left — spoke against the terror attack hypothesis. It was more conceivable that a personal confrontation had also hit uninvolved bystanders by chance. Police cordoned off the area around the racecourse extensively to secure evidence and called on eyewitnesses to provide videos and photographs.
"The woman died before our eyes"
Around 3,000 visitors had come to the "Aarau Rave Vol. 7" at the racecourse, which lies roughly 40 kilometres west of Zurich. An eyewitness reported to the regional television station Tele M1 that loud banging sounds had been heard several times at the end of the event. "Most people thought it was firecrackers or fireworks." Only when someone shouted that shots were being fired did the people present take cover.
A woman near him had been hit and was bleeding heavily. "She had a shot to the chest and what was probably a graze wound to the neck." Several visitors had tried to resuscitate her — without success. "The woman died before our eyes. We wanted to help, but we couldn't do anything. That really gets to you," he said. Police arrived after around 30 minutes.
Organisers and DJ respond with shock
The event organiser was the Zurich events agency Agency Events AG. Its managing director Olivier Grein wrote on Instagram: "We are shocked. And appalled. And sad. The treacherous attack on the guests of the Aarau Rave has broken our hearts." A rave should be a place of joy and love. Grein promised to fully support the police investigation.
Swiss DJ Tekibo, who had been playing music shortly before the attack, also posted on Instagram on Sunday morning. What had happened was heartbreaking. Techno and raves stood for freedom and security. He had lost an important friend, he wrote — his post ended with the letters "RIP M".
The Aargau Racing Association, which operates the racecourse as an event venue, has been renting the facility for the rave for years according to its own account. A representative of the association said that the previous events had proceeded without incident and the security concept had worked.
Shooting attacks uncommon in Switzerland
Shooting attacks of this kind are unusual in Switzerland. At the same time, firearms are widely distributed in the country: according to the Swiss research programme Small Arms Survey, there were almost three weapons per ten inhabitants in 2017, making Switzerland rank 16th worldwide for gun ownership per capita. A nationwide weapons register does not exist.
Source: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung