Manhunt under way after woman killed, several injured at Swiss rave shooting
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Swiss police officers patrol a street in downtown Aarau after reports of a shooting on Aug 30.
PHOTO: EPA
AARAU, Switzerland – A 22-year-old woman has been killed and five people injured, some seriously, in a shooting at a rave party in the Swiss town of Aarau, local police said on Aug 30, adding all victims are residents of Switzerland and in their 20s.
Italy’s foreign ministry said Swiss authorities had informed them that an Italian woman had died, and Italy offered its support with the investigation.
A manhunt is under way and large areas of the town have been cordoned off, police said, appealing to the public for any images of the incident.
“We have no definite information about who is behind the attack. We don’t know if it’s one, if it’s several people, if they are on the run by vehicle or on foot,” police spokesperson Bernhard Graser told Reuters.
A 34-year-old witness, who asked for anonymity, told Reuters he heard shots shortly after the music stopped at 2.30am on Aug 30 (8.30am Singapore time), which he initially mistook for fireworks.
Some took cover behind a DJ booth and one woman hid behind a refrigerator but was hit in the back by a bullet and bled to death despite efforts to revive her, he said.
“It’s just incredibly tragic. She was young,” he told Reuters. “That something like this could happen in Aarau, at a local event, is simply unimaginable. I still can’t really process it.”
Police said a 22-year-old woman died from her injuries at the scene.
They have increased their presence beyond the town - about 50 km west of Zurich and 30 km south of the German border - as a precaution, although police spokesperson Graser said there were indications the shooter or shooters were no longer in the immediate area.
“But still have a lot of police here in the area, in the town of Aarau, in the whole state (canton) to make sure that we could get them if they’re still around,” he said.
Reuters footage showed armed officers patrolling the area, police convoys moving through the streets and armoured vehicles parked near to the crime scene.
The organisers’ website advertised the event as a techno party at a covered horse racetrack, with 3,500 people expected to attend.
Organisers said they were shocked and heartbroken by the incident.
“A rave should always be a place of joy and love, never a place where people are killed, injured, or left in fear,” they said.
Switzerland has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in Europe although violent shootings are rare and it approved tighter gun control rules in 2019. REUTERS