Swiss authorities have arrested a 43-year-old man following a shooting at a rave in the northern city of Aarau that left one person dead and five others injured.
According to CNN, Aargau Cantonal Police said the suspect was taken into custody on Monday as investigations continued into the circumstances surrounding the attack at the Schachen horse racing track.
Police said a 22-year-old woman died at the scene, while four men and another woman, aged between 24 and 27, were taken to hospital with injuries ranging from minor to serious.
All six victims were residents of Switzerland, according to the authorities.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni identified the deceased woman as Maria Spinelli and expressed condolences to her family and those affected by the shooting.
“My thoughts also go to the other injured, including two Italian citizens, and to all those involved in this dramatic incident,” she said in a statement, adding they trust Swiss authorities to “shed full light on the incident and identify those responsible.”
The shooting occurred while a rave was taking place at the venue, according to social media posts by the event organisers.
Authorities said they currently believe the shooting was carried out by a single person, although the motive and the precise circumstances remain unknown.
“Investigations into the exact sequence of events, as well as the background and possible motive, are currently underway. At this stage, it is assumed there was a single perpetrator,” the police said in an update following the suspect’s arrest.
Swiss DJ Tekibo, who performed at the rave, described the incident as deeply distressing in a statement shared on Instagram.
“Techno and raves should be places of freedom and safety, never places where something like this happens,” he wrote, adding that he “lost an important friend,” without providing further details.
An eyewitness told Swiss newspaper Blick that he initially mistook the sound of the gunfire for fireworks.
“At 2:30 a.m. the music suddenly stopped, and after a minute or two I suddenly heard the gunshots…I thought it was fireworks and didn’t think anything of it,” he was cited as saying.
The witness said he later saw a woman who had been shot as he crossed an open area of the venue. Attempts were made to save her, but she eventually died from her injuries.
Police have sealed off a large area surrounding the venue and urged members of the public to keep away while forensic and investigative work continues.
Although Switzerland has one of Europe’s highest levels of civilian gun ownership, shootings are relatively uncommon.
Voters approved tighter firearms regulations in a 2019 national referendum.
The country’s deadliest mass shooting occurred in 2001 in Zug, when a gunman killed 14 politicians in what became known as the Zug massacre.
