Aarau shooter: Police classify attack as mass shooting, motive remains unclear
A 43-year-old Swiss man is suspected of randomly firing on festival-goers after a techno festival in Aarau. Police are treating the incident as a mass shooting, with the motive remaining unknown.
Mass shooting in Aarau: Suspect confessed to the act but remained silent on motive
Two and a half days after the arrest of the suspect, the Aargau Cantonal Police informed the media at a press conference in Schafisheim on Wednesday afternoon about the status of the investigation. According to the NZZ, police are classifying the incident as a mass shooting – a concrete motive continues to be lacking.
The suspect is a 43-year-old "Swiss citizen without a migration background" who was resident in the Canton of Jura and suffered from mental health problems. In the night into Monday, he drove of his own accord to the police station in Delémont, the capital of the Canton of Jura, according to police commander Michael Leupold, confessed to the act, and subsequently exercised his right to remain silent. He merely stated "that his health had been poor for some time", said the lead prosecutor Christoph Rüedi.
Three weapons in the boot
Officers seized three weapons from the boot of his vehicle: two pistols and an assault rifle of the AK-74 type, a Kalashnikov. According to police, the man parked his car on Schachenstrasse in the night into Sunday, removed the weapons from the boot, and moved towards the horse racing track, where a techno festival had been taking place. There he is said to have fired indiscriminately more than forty times at those present – well over one hundred people were still on the site at that time.
After the shooting spree, according to police, the man returned to the car park, fired at a moving vehicle, and subsequently fled in his own vehicle. According to Leupold, he had legally acquired the weapons around twenty years ago; they were registered. Leupold added: "Today the licensing requirements would be significantly stricter."
Chance as a trigger for the act?
The question of "why" remains open for now. Police believe "that it was chance that he came across this event". Investigation so far has not revealed any evidence of ideological motivations – "neither far-right nor far-left nor Islamist motives" – behind the attack. Accordingly, the Cantonal Police classify the attack as a mass shooting.
Thanks to statements from a witness, police were able to determine the type of vehicle of the fleeing car as well as the registration plates of the Canton of Jura and quickly identify the name of the suspect. Leupold explained that the man would also have been caught even without his surrender.
Sparse information fuelled speculation
Around sixty media representatives followed the much-anticipated press conference. The restrained communication from the authorities in the preceding two days had left room for speculation – particularly in Italy, from where the fatality originated. Several Italian journalists travelled to Aarau specifically for this. The daily newspapers "Corriere della Sera" and "La Repubblica" hinted that the suspect was involved in military circles. Leupold contradicted this portrayal: the man had completed recruit training and had served as an army cook, but had left the army in 2013. He had returned his service weapon.
Police justified the sparse information by wanting to wait until "there was no longer any hazard situation". Leupold listed the measures carried out after the act: DNA samples were analysed, all cameras in public spaces were checked, well over one hundred leads from the public were followed up, and vehicles were inspected.
No criminal record, no known associates
The authorities made no statements about the man's life history – family background, employment, housing situation. What is known: the suspect was not known to police and had no previous convictions "apart from minor traffic offences", according to Leupold.
Six injured, two still in hospital
Police corrected the number of injured from five to six: a woman had been hit by "a ricochet or stray shot", but did not report it until Monday. Two people remain in inpatient treatment; none of the injured persons are in life-threatening condition. The "special situation" has been lifted; there are "no indications whatsoever of accomplices or accessories".
The City of Aarau is meanwhile reviewing how events in the coming days can be better secured.
Source: NZZ