Aarau shooter lived in isolation in Jura village – neighbours unaware of firearms
The 43-year-old Swiss man who killed one person at a rave in Aarau lived secluded in Montsevelier. Neighbours expressed shock over the weapons.
Montsevelier: Quiet village life, then the shock
The alleged Aarau shooter lived in Montsevelier, a small village in the Jura, until he turned himself in to police. Only a sealed front door with a police notice indicated that the 43-year-old Swiss man had lived in the ground-floor flat. According to 20 Minuten, his neighbour Suzanne Lovis only learned of the act on Wednesday evening – after she saw the sealed door.
Lovis describes the suspect as very reserved and quiet. "He lived mainly for himself and was not really integrated into village life." The tall man with a ponytail barely stood out in the town. According to their own accounts, the neighbours knew nothing of weapons: "That surprised us greatly."
On Monday morning, shortly after the act in the night between Saturday and Sunday, his flat was searched. During the attack, the man fired around 40 shots with a Kalashnikov at a rave in Aarau, killing one person and injuring six others. The Aargau cantonal police classify the incident as a rampage.
Withdrawal and silence – punctuated by an outburst
Claude-Alain Chapatte, mayor of Val Terbi, also describes the man to the Suisse romande newspaper Le Matin as "reserved and scarcely known". Another neighbour reports that his car usually stood outside the house during the day, but never at night. No noise, music or loud conversations were ever heard.
Former neighbours from the time when the 43-year-old still lived with his parents in a neighbouring village remember things differently. For them, the news from Aarau was a shock – even though they knew the suspect well. "For several years it was clear to us that he was crazy," they told 20 Minuten. As an example, they cite that he sometimes slammed his car door ten times in a row.
The man's parents, described by neighbours as "very pleasant" and engaged in the community, declined to comment to 20 Minuten. The president of the local shooting club confirmed that the 43-year-old had never been a member.
Firearms legally owned for 20 years
According to the Aargau cantonal police, the semi-automatic AK-74 with which he shot in Aarau was legally acquired by the man around 20 years ago. At the time of the act, he is also said to have carried two further weapons in his car – including a pistol, which he also fired in Aarau.
The suspect was unknown to the authorities before the act. After the shots, he drove early Monday morning in the alleged getaway vehicle with the weapons to the police station in Delémont and turned himself in.
The motive remains unclear. The accused is currently making no statements. Neither a local connection to Aarau nor a personal relationship with the victims has been identified so far. Police believe the man stumbled upon the party by chance.
Source: 20 Minuten