Shooting at Aarau rave leaves 22-year-old Italian woman dead

In the night between Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 August, shots were fired into the crowd at the Schachen racecourse in Aarau, in the canton of Aargau. About 3,000 people were attending the event, the seventh edition of the "Aarauer Rave". The shots rang out shortly before three in the morning, after the music had already ended and many people were leaving the site.

A 22-year-old Italian woman living in Switzerland died at the scene. Cantonal police did not release her name, out of respect for her family; several Italian media outlets identified her as Maria Spinelli, from Atri, in the province of Teramo. Five other people were injured, with wounds ranging from minor to serious: four men and one woman, aged between 24 and 27. Among the injured are Italian nationals, discharged from hospital with minor injuries, and a German national.

Investigation following several leads

The motive for the shooting remains unknown. A spokesperson for the Aargau police said that both the motive and the perpetrators were still completely unknown. Investigators are pursuing three hypotheses: a terrorist attack, an act of indiscriminate violence, or a settling of scores linked to organised crime. Shell casings of two different calibres were found at the scene, and it is still unclear whether one person or more than one was involved.

More than a hundred police officers have been deployed in the search, supported by the cantonal disaster response unit. A security perimeter was set up around the racecourse, and the Aargau police are also working with German authorities.

Italy's foreign ministry sent a task force to Aarau, coordinated by the embassy in Bern, to assist the families of the Italian nationals involved and to follow the investigation together with Swiss authorities. Victims include nationals of several European countries, and the reconstruction of events is now proceeding with the involvement of several national authorities.