Shooting at Swiss rave kills 22-year-old Italian woman, injures five
A gunman opened fire at an annual techno event in Aarau, Switzerland, killing one and wounding five before being arrested the following day.
Shots fired around 2:30 a.m. at an annual techno event in Aarau, Switzerland, early on the morning of Sunday, August 30, left one woman dead and five people injured. The event, Aarau Rave VOL. 7, was held at a horse racing track and had drawn about 3,500 attendees.
Witnesses initially mistook the gunfire for fireworks, according to AFP and Reuters reporting on the incident. An army helicopter was deployed in the immediate response.
The woman killed was a 22-year-old Italian national, Maria Spinelli; Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni confirmed the victim’s identity. The five people wounded ranged in age from 24 to 27. Swiss President Guy Parmelin expressed condolences following the attack.
Police launched a massive manhunt that culminated in the arrest of a 43-year-old Swiss man the following day. Authorities have not yet disclosed a motive.
Switzerland has one of Europe’s highest rates of civilian gun ownership, a function of its militia tradition and relatively permissive firearms laws — but violent shootings remain rare. An incident of this scale, at a public event with thousands of people present, stands out sharply against that baseline.