Suspect Arrested After Fatal Rave Shooting

Swiss police arrested a 43-year-old man shortly before 1 a.m. on Monday 31 August, about 22 hours after a gunman opened fire at a rave in northern Switzerland and killed a young woman, according to Aargau Cantonal Police. No charge has been announced. Five other people were wounded, some of them seriously.

In an update issued after the arrest, police said they now assume a single person carried out the attack. They said the exact sequence of events, the background and the possible motive were still under investigation.

The woman who died was Maria Spinelli, a 22-year-old Italian citizen. She was killed at the scene. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni named her in a statement posted on X. "I express my deepest condolences for the death of Maria Spinelli, the young Italian woman who was a victim of the tragic shooting in Aarau, Switzerland," she wrote.

The five people taken to hospital were four Swiss men and a German woman, aged between 24 and 31, with injuries ranging from minor to severe, Aargau police said on Monday 31 August. That corrected an account given the previous day, which had described all the victims as residents of Switzerland aged 24 to 27. Police did not release their names, citing Swiss privacy rules. Meloni said two of the injured were Italian citizens; Italy has not withdrawn that, and Blick has reported that dual Swiss and Italian citizenship cannot be excluded.

A rave that was winding down when the shots rang out

The gunfire broke out at the "Aarau Rave VOL. 7," an annual techno party held at a horse racing track in the Schachen district of Aarau. The organisers' listing advertised the event for about 3,500 people, and it ran from 3 p.m. on Saturday 29 August into the early hours of Sunday 30 August. Police said well over 100 people were still on site when the shots were fired.

Police were alerted around 2:30 a.m., spokesperson Pascal Wenzel told Swiss public broadcaster SRF. A second spokesperson, Vanessa Rumpold, told the newspaper Blick that "several shots" had been fired at a large group of people. The party was already ending when it happened. Police later said the search for the perpetrator was underway and that the possible motives, as well as the exact circumstances, were still unclear.

Aarau is the capital of the Aargau canton and sits about 50 kilometers (31 miles) west of Zurich by road. The town had roughly 22,900 residents at the end of 2025. The fire department cordoned off a large area around the track, and locals were told to stay away while investigators worked. A resident posted a video on social media showing empty streets and what sounded like several gunshots in the background.

Partygoers thought the gunfire was fireworks

Ravers first mistook the shots for fireworks and only understood what was happening when someone shouted for everyone to get down. A witness told Reuters that many took cover, some behind a DJ booth, and that a woman who hid behind a refrigerator was hit in the back and bled to death. Police, who said the woman killed died instantly despite attempts to resuscitate her, moved the remaining ravegoers to a nearby gymnasium and interviewed them there.

A witness told Reuters he heard shots shortly after the music stopped at 2:30 a.m. "It's just incredibly tragic. She was young," he said. "That something like this could happen in Aarau, at a local event, is simply unimaginable. I still can't really process it."

Police hunted an unknown gunman across the region

Before Monday's arrest, officers were searching with no clear idea of who they were looking for. "The manhunt is continuing nonstop at full speed," police spokesperson Bernhard Graser told reporters, adding that virtually the entire Aargau police force was out on the streets.

An AFP journalist saw armed officers posted along the highway up to 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the scene, and an army helicopter was sent over the area. Reuters footage showed police convoys moving through the streets and armored vehicles parked near the crime scene. Because Aarau sits close to the German border, police in Freiburg, Germany, joined the search.

Early on, Graser said officers did not know whether one person or several were responsible, or whether they had fled by car or on foot. He said some evidence suggested the attacker might already have left the area, though police kept a heavy presence in the region in case they were still nearby. Officers said on Sunday afternoon that they had ruled out the possibility that the suspect could pose a threat again; by that evening police chief Michael Leupold was saying a residual risk remained.

Casings pointed to two different guns

Police Chief Michael Leupold told reporters that investigators had not determined whether the shooting was a terrorist attack, a rampage or a crime with another motive. Shell casings recovered at the scene indicated two weapons were used: a handgun or submachine gun, and a larger weapon such as a possible assault rifle.

Graser played down the idea of terrorism, saying the fact that the rave was already winding down suggested that was not the case and that a fight could also be a possibility. He described the shooting as highly unusual for Switzerland. "In terms of its nature, this incident is certainly unique in recent years," he said, calling it something truly extraordinary and the reason for such a large police response.

The Aargau cantonal government said it was deeply affected by the violence and condemned it, adding that its thoughts were with the victims, their families and everyone who had to witness the event. The event's organisers said separately that they were shocked.

Italy sent officials to Aarau

Meloni said her thoughts were also with the wounded, including the two Italian citizens, and with everyone caught up in the shooting. She said she trusted Swiss authorities to shed full light on what happened and to identify those responsible. Italy's foreign ministry said the two injured Italians suffered minor injuries and had already been discharged from hospital.

Officials from Italy's embassy in Switzerland were sent to the scene to follow the investigation. The country's foreign ministry said its task force was working to assist the families of the Italians involved and to follow developments in coordination with Swiss authorities.

A DJ said he lost someone important to him

Swiss DJ Tekibo, who performed at the rave, wrote on Instagram that what had happened was absolutely heartbreaking. He said techno and raves should be places of freedom and safety rather than places where such violence occurs, and that he had lost someone important to him and did not have the words for it.

The Aargau Racing Club, which runs the track, said it was thinking of everyone affected. "We extend our deepest sympathy to all those affected and their families, who are facing this difficult and trying situation," it said, thanking the emergency responders who worked at the scene.

Gun ownership is common in Switzerland, mass shootings are not

Public shootings are rare in Switzerland even though guns are widespread. Members of the country's militia army may keep their service weapon at home, but ammunition has not been issued for home storage since 2007, and firearms registers are held by the 26 cantons rather than centrally, which makes an exact national count difficult.

The Geneva-based Small Arms Survey estimated that civilians held more than 2.3 million firearms in 2017, close to three guns for every 10 inhabitants. Those are the survey's most recent published figures. In 2019, Swiss voters approved tighter gun control rules in a national referendum.

The country's deadliest mass shooting was the 2001 Zug massacre, when a gunman killed 11 members of the cantonal parliament and three members of the cantonal government in Zug, in central Switzerland, before taking his own life. Graser said the Aarau shooting stood apart from anything Switzerland has seen in recent years.