Shooting at rave in Aarau: 22-year-old Italian woman dead, five injured
A shooting at a rave party at a racecourse in the Swiss city of Aarau overnight has left one person dead and five injured. The identity of the perpetrator remains unknown, and a search operation is underway across Switzerland.
Shooting at techno party in Aarau claims life of young Italian woman
Around 2.30 in the morning on Sunday, shots rang out at the racecourse in the Swiss city of Aarau, where a rave party with approximately 3,500 participants was taking place. According to RTV SLO, a 22-year-old woman was killed in the shooting and five people were injured.
Police spokesperson Vanessa Rumpold confirmed that police and emergency responders attended the scene. The circumstances of the shooting had not been clarified at the time of her statement to the public. According to initial reports, the perpetrator fired into a larger group of people.
Authorities later announced that a 22-year-old woman had died, and five people were being treated in hospital – four men and one woman – aged between 24 and 27. One of them sustained serious injuries. All are Swiss citizens.
Shortly after 7 am, Pascal Wenzel, spokesperson for Aargau canton police, stated that extraordinary conditions prevailed in the area. He urged residents to avoid the location of the incident and asked party participants for any photographs and videos of the shooting. Police announced on the network X that the perpetrator's identity is unknown and that a search is underway. "As a precaution", extensive police forces were deployed to the area.
Investigators found cartridges of two calibres at the crime scene – one typical of a pistol and one matching a larger weapon, most likely an assault rifle or submachine gun.
Because the shooting took place in the midst of a crowd of several thousand, police are considering terrorism among possible motives. "If someone fires into a crowd of several thousand people at an event, it is absolutely clear that we are considering terrorism as a motive," they stated.
The Italian foreign ministry confirmed that the victim was an Italian citizen. Officials from the embassy in Switzerland were dispatched to the scene, who will, according to their statement, "closely monitor the investigation." Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed her condolences and said she trusted Swiss authorities to clarify the events.
A 33-year-old witness, who remained anonymous to news agency Reuters, said shots rang out shortly after the music stopped. At first she mistook the sounds for fireworks. Some participants sought shelter behind the DJ booth. According to the witness, one woman attempted to escape behind a refrigerator, but was hit by a bullet in the back; despite resuscitation attempts, she bled to death. "This is incredibly tragic. She was young. That something like this could happen in Aarau, at a local event, is simply unimaginable," the witness said.
The organisers, who advertised the party as a techno event at a covered horse-racing track, announced they were "shocked and deeply shaken". "A rave should always be a place of joy and love, but never a place where people die, are injured or live in fear," they wrote.
Switzerland has one of the largest shares of firearms per capita in Europe, but such incidents are rare, according to Reuters. The last major attack occurred in 2001, when a gunman in Zug canton killed 14 members of parliament and local government and then took his own life.
Source: RTV SLO