Woman dies after shooting at Aarau rave

Aarau: All six victims are resident in Switzerland Keystone-SDA

The person who died in the shooting at the Aarau rave in the early hours of Sunday morning was a 22-year-old woman. She died at the scene from her injuries, police spokesperson Pascal Wenzel told reporters.

Four young men and another woman were also taken to hospital.

“According to preliminary findings, six people were injured in the shooting in Aarau overnight,” Wenzel said. “They are aged between 24 and 27.”

All the victims were resident in Switzerland. The cantonal police have set up a helpline for relatives and witnesses.

Meanwhile, the police operation was continuing on Sunday morning. Police also said on X that people should continue to avoid the area around Aarau Schachen.

Shots were fired shortly after 2:30am at the Schachen racecourse on the banks of the River Aare, where the seventh Aargau Rave was being held. The event, which began on Saturday afternoon, was billed by organisers as the canton’s largest one-day event of its kind and was expected to attract nearly 3,000 people. It was not yet known on Sunday morning how many people were still at the venue when the shooting took place.

The alarm was raised shortly after 2:30am, according to cantonal police. A major emergency response was launched, involving multiple emergency services, the fire brigade and the canton’s disaster response unit. An army Super Puma helicopter was also deployed, according to Swiss public broadcaster SRF and other media reports.

Manhunt continues

Police cordoned off a large area around the racecourse, swimming pool and sports facilities, and urged people to stay away. The swimming pool in Aarau remained closed. As a precaution, officers also stepped up patrols beyond the town. Armed police were seen on motorways up to 30 kilometres from the scene of the shooting.

The manhunt for the person or people responsible continued on Sunday morning. At about 9.30am, the search operation was still under way, Wenzel said. Investigators were also working to establish what type of weapon had been used. It is not yet known whether the suspect or suspects are still armed.

The possible motives for the shooting and the exact circumstances surrounding it remain unclear. Police appealed for witnesses to come forward and urged anyone with photos or videos of the incident to hand them over.

“Absolutely heart-wrenching”

Several people at the event initially mistook the gunshots for fireworks, according to witness accounts cited by Blick and other media outlets. Some sought shelter at the scene, while others took refuge in a nearby sports hall. Blick also reported that it had obtained a video recorded at about 2:35am in which a series of gunshots can be heard.

As of Sunday morning, it was still not possible to establish exactly what had happened during the shooting.

Swiss DJ Tekibo, who performed at the rave, reacted on Instagram. He said he was unharmed but deeply shaken by the events, and revealed that he had lost an “important friend”, although it is not known whom he was referring to.

“Techno and raves should be places of freedom and safety,” he wrote, describing the incident as “absolutely heart-wrenching”.

Cantonal police have set up a helpline for relatives and witnesses.

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Translated from German and French, reviewed by an English Department journalist.