Switzerland: one person killed and five injured by gunfire on the sidelines of a rave party in Aarau

One person was killed and five injured by gunfire overnight from Saturday to Sunday on the sidelines of a rave party in Aarau, in northern Switzerland near Zurich, police announced, adding that the perpetrators were still being sought. According to the local press, the shots were fired before 3:00 a.m. (01:00 GMT) on the sidelines of the “Aarauer Rave”, an annual techno party which brought together some 3,500 people at the Aarau racecourse between Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning.

“According to initial findings, the shots fired last night in the Schachen area, in Aarau, left one dead and five injured, some of them seriously. Research to find the perpetrators, currently unknown, is underway,” the police in the canton of Aargau announced on X. This specified that “the possible motives as well as the exact circumstances of the act remain to be clarified”.

Police received an alert for gunshots shortly after 2:30 a.m., Swiss agency ATS-Keystone reported. Police spokesperson Vanessa Rumpold, for her part, told the newspaper Blick that the incident had “occurred at the racecourse”, with “several shots fired within a large group of people”.

“Burst” shots

Witnesses told Blick that shots were fired around 2:30 a.m. as the rave continued and that, after believing it was fireworks, many people then took refuge in a nearby gymnasium. According to the newspaper, a witness reported “bursts of gunfire”.

A resident of Aarau posted a video on social media of deserted streets with what appears to be numerous gunshots in the background. According to the press, an army Super Puma helicopter was deployed in the cantonal capital of Aargau, in addition to numerous police officers, rescue workers and healthcare teams. The cantonal police of Aargau indicated that they had “opened an investigation”, calling on the population to “stay away from the area”.

She also asked anyone with video recordings or photos to send them to her Instagram account. “The perimeter around the racecourse, swimming pool and sports field is cordoned off over a large area. Police are asking the public to stay away from this area. As a precautionary measure, the police are strengthening their presence even beyond Aarau,” she further indicated on X. An AFP journalist saw armed police deployed on the highway up to 30 km from the scene of the shooting.