Aarau residents mourn shooting victims after rave party

Residents of Aarau remain deeply shaken after a woman was killed and several people were injured in a shooting following a rave party, SRF reports. The area around the horse-racing track in the Schachen district remained cordoned off on Monday.

Young people gathered in the neighbourhood on Sunday evening to commemorate the victims, leaving roses and candles near the scene. On Monday, residents described the mood in the city as subdued.

Student Amos Matter told SRF that there had been a heavy police presence in the neighbourhood and that people were discussing the incident. He said he had attended the same rave last year.

A young woman was killed in the shooting. A German national and four Swiss nationals aged between 24 and 31 were taken to hospital with injuries ranging from minor to serious. Police said the victims appeared to have been chosen at random.

An unknown number of people fired several shots early on Sunday morning. Police later arrested a 43 year old suspect. The motive remains unclear. Investigators were considering three possibilities: a terrorist attack, a rampage or another criminal act. Police are due to provide further information at a news conference on Wednesday at 2 p.m.

Residents said the incident had also affected people who were attending other events in Aarau that night. Assistant teacher Seraina Stefania told SRF that she had been at the Musig i de Altstadt event elsewhere in the city when a colleague told her about the shooting. She said people initially did not know exactly what had happened.

Resident Erika Mauch said the Sunday had been unusually quiet in the affected neighbourhood because the area was sealed off. She said she had not been afraid.

Event organiser helped injured worker

Livio Montinero of Junior Partner Urban Agency Events AG helped organise the rave at the horse-racing track. He said he was in the rear section near an emergency exit when the shots were fired.

At first, the organisers thought the noise was fireworks. When they realised it was gunfire, they ran across the track towards the River Aare.

A food truck worker was hit by a shot while fleeing towards the river, Montinero said. He and other people brought the injured man to safety and contacted an ambulance.

Montinero said he was mainly thinking about the victims after the incident.