Aarau shooting prompts condolences from officials, DJs and organisers

Officials, organisers and DJs have expressed their condolences after a young woman was killed and others injured in shooting at a rave in Aarau, SRF reported.

The city of Aarau said on Instagram that it sympathised with everyone affected by the “tragic events”. Mayor Hanspeter Hilfiker said he was thinking of the victims and their families. He also said he had heard the shots himself and been woken during the night, but had not initially thought anything serious had happened and went back to sleep.

The government of the canton of Aargau said it was deeply affected by the violence and condemned the attack. It expressed its support for the victims, their families and everyone who had witnessed the incident, and thanked the emergency services and others involved.

Justice Minister Beat Jans said a shooting in Switzerland was “unacceptable”. He expressed his sympathy to the relatives and friends of the woman who died and wished the injured a full recovery. Jans said the federal police office fedpol had been called in to help find those responsible and bring them to justice.

According to an Italian news agency, Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis also expressed his condolences in a telephone call with Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and the Italian government over the death of an Italian citizen.

The DJs who performed at the event also said they were affected. DJ Tekibo described what happened as “absolutely heartbreaking” in an Instagram story and said he was still trying to process it. He said he had lost someone important and would withdraw for a period.

British DJ Henri Bergmann, the headline act at the Aarau rave, wrote on Instagram that she was safe because she had left shortly before the shooting. She said she was thinking of everyone who had remained at the event and called it frightening that the suspected attacker was still at large.

The event organiser, Zurich-based Agency Events AG, said in a statement on its website that it was shocked, shaken and sad. The agency described the attack on guests at the Aarau rave as devastating and said a rave should always be a place of joy and love, never somewhere people are killed, injured or left in fear.