One dead and five injured in a shooting during an electronic music party in Switzerland

At least one person has died and five have been injured, some seriously, in a shooting that occurred early this Sunday at the Schachen racecourse, in the Swiss city of Aarau. The incident occurred during the celebration of an electronic music party known as “Aarauer Rave”. According to information from the police in the canton of Aargau, in northern Switzerland, the shots were recorded shortly before three in the morning, in the midst of an event that had brought together several thousand attendees since Saturday afternoon. The person responsible managed to escape from the racecourse where the party was being held.

According to the first police information, the shots occurred at a time when a large number of people were gathering at the premises. The festival organization expected around 2,500 attendees, although local media raise the number of participants throughout the hours of the event to around 3,500 people. The cantonal police deployed a large number of troops, ambulances and firefighters to the area, and decreed what they called a “special situation.” As a precautionary measure, the municipal swimming pool near the venue remains closed and access to the racecourse and the adjoining sports area is cut off.

At the moment the identity of the perpetrator or perpetrators of the shooting is unknown, as well as the motive for the attack. A police spokesperson noted that the search for the person responsible, still unidentified, is moving “full steam ahead,” and the police have asked those who have videos or photographs of the moment of the events to send them to their official channels. As an additional measure, the authorities have also reinforced the police presence in all areas near the city of Aarau, given the uncertainty about the whereabouts of the attacker. Aarau has about 22,300 inhabitants and is located 46 km (28.5 mi) west of Zurich.

The security forces have deployed a large force, which includes an Army helicopter, and have asked the population to avoid the area of ​​the racecourse and in particular a nearby public pool, which is very crowded during that season on weekends, while they carry out their search operation for the person responsible for the shooting. The chain of events, as well as the possible reasons for the event, remain the subject of investigation. The authorities have not specified whether it was a single shooter or several people involved, and they do not rule out that there may be more victims of different types.