Shooting in Aarau: How cantonal police escalated to "special situation"
A 22-year-old Italian woman died at a rave party in Aarau, with five others injured. The cantonal police declared a "special situation" and arrested a 43-year-old Swiss man.
Shots after rave in Aarau: sequence of events and significance of police "special situation"
Around 2.30 a.m. on Sunday morning, a rave at the horse-racing track in Aarau's Schachen ended — and shortly afterwards, shots were fired. A 22-year-old Italian woman resident in Aargau died, and five other people were injured, some lightly and others seriously. As Google News CH — Crime (de) reports, the Aargau cantonal police declared a "special situation" in the early hours of the morning.
What a "special situation" means
The term is not explicitly defined in the Aargau Police Act. However, the Act grants the cantonal police the coordination and direction of major events. "Special situation" is primarily a police command term — it can be declared in hostage-takings, rampages, terrorist attacks, or the hunt for a dangerous perpetrator. At an exercise in 2022, a police spokesperson summarised the essence as follows: "There is an elevated danger to life and limb."
After the shooting in Aarau, the motive was initially entirely unclear. Police Commander Michael Leupold named three hypotheses on Sunday evening: terrorism, a rampage, and a criminal settlement within the milieu. By declaring the special situation, police consolidated their available forces and directed them towards the extraordinary threat, as Leupold explained.
Prepared procedures and central command structure
In a special situation, police switch from normal operations to a special command organisation. An operational staff is formed to clarify central questions: where could the perpetrator(s) have fled? How are they armed? Are any getaway vehicles known? In Aarau, these situational assessments led to concrete measures: heavily armed units patrolled, roads were closed, and vehicles were checked.
Captain Matthias Schildknecht took overall command of operations in Aarau. He coordinated both police forces and partner organisations such as fire and ambulance services. Schildknecht has trained for comparable situations: in 2022, he led a major special situation exercise around the Grand Council building in Aarau, in which a terrorist attack with the taking of politicians as hostages was simulated. At that time, he told the newspaper: "It is also about reviewing prepared plans and processes."
Search across cantons and across borders
A special situation is not restricted to a single police force. In Switzerland's small-scale system, cantonal police forces work closely together in such situations — especially since Aarau is near the Solothurn border. In the Aarau case, the search extended nationwide; Fedpol and the federal intelligence service provided support. German police also participated in search measures beyond the national border.
Last November, the police forces of Thurgau, Ticino and Zug jointly exercised a "complex special situation" — the abduction and taking of several victims as hostages over two days. The Conference of Cantonal Police Commanders described this as a "unique major exercise".
Arrest and further developments
Police decide when a special situation ends based on the threat level and operational progress. An arrest does not automatically mean that all special measures are immediately suspended.
On the night of Monday, cantonal police arrested the alleged perpetrator: a 43-year-old Swiss man who is the subject of serious suspicion of committing the offence. Whether the special situation had already been suspended at that point remained initially unclear. On Tuesday, cantonal police did not answer corresponding media questions due to the high level of interest; they announced a media briefing for Wednesday at 2 p.m.
After the shooting on the racing track grounds, further shots were also fired at a traveller encampment. According to Italian media, the 22-year-old who was killed came from a Roma family. A witness who was at the scene after the rave described how much the experience was still affecting him. Following the arrest of the suspect, he felt relief — however, since then he felt uncomfortable in crowds of people.
Source: Google News CH — Crime (de)