One person killed, five wounded in shooting at rave in Switzerland
Police said a large-scale operation was under way following the incident at the annual techno party.
An Italian woman has been killed and five people have been injured in a shooting at an overnight rave in northern Switzerland, police say.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni named the victim as Maria Spinelli on social media. Swiss President Guy Parmelin wrote in a post on X that he was saddened by the incident early on Sunday and shared his condolences “to the family and relatives of the young victim”.
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“A 22-year-old woman died of her injuries at the scene. Four men and one woman, aged between 24 and 27, were taken to hospital. They are suffering from injuries ranging from minor to serious,” police said on social media.
“Searches to find the perpetrators, who are currently unknown, are under way,” the police report said, adding that the motives and exact circumstances regarding the incident in Aarau, north of Zurich, were not yet known.
Contacted by the AFP news agency, police were unable to say how many suspects there were or the type of firearms used in the shooting.
The Swiss newspaper Blick reported that the shots were fired before 3am (01:00 GMT) on the sidelines of the Aarauer Rave.
About 3,500 people attended the annual techno party between 3pm on Saturday and 2am on Sunday.
Police appealed to the public for any film or pictures of the incident and urged people to stay away from the area.
The scene around the shooting was cordoned off on Sunday.
Blick published video footage taken from an elevated position that it said had come from a reader showing a night-time street scene with the sound of several shots being fired.
Large areas of Aarau have been cordoned off, police said, adding that they have increased their presence beyond the town as a precautionary measure.
Media reports said an army helicopter was deployed to Aargau as well as police officers, rescue workers and medical teams.
The Swiss news agency ATS-Keystone reported that police were alerted about gunshots during the night while police spokesperson Vanessa Rumpold told Blick that “several shots” were fired at a large group of people.
Witnesses told Blick that the shots were fired about 2:30am (00:30 GMT) while the rave was still taking place. Initially, they were believed to be fireworks, but one witness reported “shots fired in bursts”.
Many people sheltered in a nearby gymnasium for safety.
Switzerland has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in Europe although violent shootings are rare.
The last major shooting occurred in 2001 when 14 members of the parliament and local government of Zug near Lucerne were killed by a gunman who then took his own life.
Switzerland approved tighter gun controls in 2019.
