Shooting at rave party in northern Switzerland leaves one dead and five injured

A shooting in northern Switzerland has left one person dead and at least five others injured, some of them seriously, local police reported this Sunday.

The Aargau cantonal police have indicated that a search is underway for the perpetrator or perpetrators and has asked the public to provide any video or photographs of the incident, which according to the widely circulated tabloid Blick occurred at a rave party at the racecourse. A video published on the newspaper's website shows successive shots. Police have indicated that large areas of the town of Aarau remain cordoned off, and that they have reinforced their presence beyond the municipality as a precautionary measure.

As reported by the Swiss newspaper Blick, citing the police, the incident occurred at the Aarau racecourse and took place shortly after 2:30 a.m. on Sunday. Police spokesperson Vanessa Rumpold had initially indicated that it could only be confirmed that there were “several shots fired at a large group of people,” without specifying whether there were fatalities. Shortly after 7 a.m., another police spokesman, Pascal Wenzel, described the situation as “special,” before police confirmed the death.

As a precautionary measure, the Police have also announced that the Aarau swimming pool will remain closed until further notice due to the ongoing police operation, and have once again asked visitors to avoid the Aarauer Schachen area. According to Blick, the Cantonal Disaster Intervention Element (KKE) of Aargau and a Super Puma helicopter of the Swiss Army participate in the operation.

Switzerland has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in Europe, although violent shootings are rare, and in 2019 the country passed more restrictive gun control regulations.