Fatal shooting at Aarau rave: police without leads
A 22-year-old Italian woman died in gunfire at a rave party in Aarau. The perpetrator remains at large, with five further persons injured.
Search continues – perpetrator still unknown after Aarau rave shooting
Following the fatal shooting at the rave party at Aarau's Schachen, Aargau police had no leads on the perpetrator by Sunday evening. As Google News CH — Crime (de) reports, authorities are investigating three lines of inquiry: terrorist attack, rampage, or criminal vendetta in the underworld.
The perpetrator fled immediately after the gunfire, Aargau police commander Michael Leupold explained to the media on Sunday evening. The search is ongoing nationwide – involving the Federal Office of Police (Fedpol), the Federal Intelligence Service (NDB), other cantonal police forces, particularly in Solothurn, and German police.
According to special operations commander Matthias Schildknecht, police found ammunition traces from two different weapons: one used in long-range weapons such as assault rifles, the other of nine-millimetre calibre. According to Leupold, shots were fired from two different locations on the premises. Eyewitnesses reported two perpetrators, but Leupold left open the possibility that a single perpetrator might have acted with two weapons.
On Saturday evening, the "Aarau Rave" took place at the horse racing track at Aarau's Schachen. According to their website, the organisers expected approximately 3,500 people. The premises comprise various sports and leisure facilities in addition to the race track, with part of them located in the canton of Solothurn.
A 22-year-old Italian national residing in Switzerland was killed in the gunfire during the night into Sunday. Four young men and one woman, aged between 24 and 27, were injured from light to severe injuries. According to chief prosecutor Philipp Umbricht, the Lenzburg-Aarau public prosecutor's office opened criminal proceedings on suspicion of multiple deliberate homicide.
Leupold stressed that the fleeing perpetrator continues to pose a threat. The risk to the Aarau region should not, however, be assessed as higher than for the rest of Switzerland; the population could move about normally.
President Guy Parmelin expressed himself on X as "deeply affected" by the events and offered condolences to the victim's family. Federal councillor Ignazio Cassis offered condolences to his Italian counterpart Antonio Tajani; the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (EDA) in Bern confirmed corresponding reports from Italian news agencies. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also expressed her condolences on X.
Aargau Police Chief Dieter Egli also expressed concern: "I wish to emphasise that once again a place where people came together peacefully to celebrate has become the scene of a crime," he said on Sunday evening. Such an incident could unfortunately not only happen in large cities, but also in Aarau.
Source: Google News CH — Crime (de)