Swiss police launch nationwide manhunt after deadly shooting at Aarau rave

File Photo: Police officers patrol a street in downtown Aarau, Switzerland Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026, following a shooting at a rave.

A nationwide manhunt is currently underway in Switzerland after a shooting at a rave in the town of Aarau killed a 22-year-old woman and injured five others. Police have deployed armed officers, convoys and armoured vehicles as the search continues. Large parts of Aarau were cordoned off and police stepped up their presence across the surrounding canton and beyond the town as investigators appealed to the public for photographs and videos that could help identify those responsible. Police said there were indications the shooter or shooters were no longer in the immediate area, but the search remained active across Switzerland. The shooting took place at about 2.30 am local time during a techno rave at a covered horse racetrack that organisers had expected about 3,500 people to attend. The 22-year-old woman died at the scene, while five others, aged between 24 and 27, were taken to hospital with injuries ranging from minor to serious, police said. Cartridges recovered at the scene indicated that two types of ammunition had been used, police said, potentially from a pistol and a larger firearm. Police said they had not yet determined how many attackers were involved or what motivated the shooting. Authorities were considering three possibilities: terrorism, a mass shooting or another criminal motive. "Where an active shooter is firing into a crowd of thousands of people at an event, it's perfectly clear that we consider terrorism as a motive," Aargau police commander Michael Leupold told reporters. "We are treating all three possibilities as equally likely." A witness who attended the event told Reuters he initially mistook the sound of gunfire for fireworks after the music stopped. Some people took cover behind the DJ booth, while others hid wherever they could. One woman who hid behind a refrigerator was struck in the back by a bullet and died despite attempts to revive her, the witness said. "It's just incredibly tragic. She was young," the witness said. "That something like this could happen in Aarau, at a local event, is simply unimaginable." Swiss president Guy Parmelin offered condolences to the family of the victim. "In these difficult hours, ​my full sympathy goes to all people affected by this tragic event," he said on social media.