Firearm offences in Switzerland doubled in 2025 – Expert warns against panic
Following the fatal shooting in Aarau, criminal statistics show a sharp rise in firearm offences. An expert from the University of St Gallen urges caution.
Firearm offences double – St Gallen criminologist puts figures into perspective
Following the fatal shooting in Aarau on Sunday, which left one person dead and several others partially seriously injured, current figures from police criminal statistics have come into focus. According to SRF, in Switzerland last year there were 32 attempts to kill another person using a firearm – double the number of cases from the previous year. In cases of serious assault with firearms, 13 cases were recorded in 2025, significantly more than in previous years.
Nora Markwalder, Professor of Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure and Criminology at the University of St Gallen, contextualises the figures. "To really establish an increase, you need to look at a longer observation period," she says. Various factors could be responsible for the increase – including chance or a single incident with multiple victims. Her conclusion: "There is no need to sound the alarm now."
Moreover, Markwalder emphasises that the number of completed killings with firearms in 2025 did not increase compared to the previous year. In historical comparison, there is clearly a decline: in the 1990s, Switzerland saw far more firearm-related killings than today. The criminologist cites 2009 as a reference point, when 55 people were killed by gunshot violence. "Over the last ten years, there has actually been a stabilisation," Markwalder says.
According to the professor, clear causes for the long-term decline cannot be identified. One possible explanation is the declining number of private firearms in Swiss households, which survey studies have documented. Markwalder cites the reduction in army size and a declining willingness to keep military weapons at home as reasons for this.
Also notable is a shift in the weapons used: "We can see in the figures that since 2016 there have actually been more stab weapon killings than firearm killings," Markwalder explains.
Cases such as that in Aarau – one death, several injured, public place – are fortunately rare. According to the criminologist, the database shows that such incidents with multiple victims in public spaces have occurred only occasionally over the past decades. Typically there is one victim per incident, and perpetrator and victim know each other. Whether this applies in the Aarau case is the subject of ongoing investigations. Many questions remain unanswered. The Aargau Cantonal Police have announced a media conference for Wednesday afternoon.
Source: SRF