A 22-year-old woman was killed, and at least five others wounded, when a gunman opened fire at a rave in northern Switzerland Sunday morning — as police launched a manhunt for the killer.
The shooting erupted at around 2:30 a.m. as the annual Aarauer Rave was in full swing at the Schachen horse track in Aarau, Switzerland’s largest horse racing venue, 30 miles west of Zurich.
The woman was pronounced dead at the scene and four men and a woman, whose ages range from 24 to 27, were rushed to a hospital with injuries ranging from mild to severe, the Aargau cantonal police department said on X.
All the victims lived in Switzerland, according to authorities.
Police officers with an armored special-purpose vehicle block a street near the Schachen horse racing track on Sunday, August 30, 2026, near Aarau, Switzerland. MICHAEL BUHOLZER/EPA/Shutterstock
Rave attendees reported hearing “multiple gunshots” before someone yelled “everyone down” as they hid underneath the DJ booth, according to Swiss newspaper Blick.
Others believed the bangs from the gun were fireworks and continued to party until they were rushed inside a nearby gymnasium.
“At 2:30 a.m. the music suddenly stopped, and after a minute or two I suddenly heard the gunshots,” a witness told the outlet. “I thought it was fireworks and didn’t think anything of it.”
The unidentified reveler was told by others that they saw a “shadow” with a rifle near the parking lot and running towards the woods.
The Aarauer Rave, billed as the largest daytime rave in the district of Aaragau, was held Saturday from 4 p.m. to 3 a.m. before being interrupted by the gunfire towards the end of the night.
The event was headlined by British DJ Henri Bergmann and Swiss DJ Ronny Grauer with other local artists Sam Madi, Lell Nahar, female duo LOSTANDFOUND also performing, according to the listing on the rave’s website.
Police officers patrol a street in downtown Aarau, Switzerland, on Sunday, August 30, 2026. MICHAEL BUHOLZER/EPA/Shutterstock
Armed police officers patrol near the Schachen horse racing track on Aug. 30, 2026, in Aarau, Switzerland. Michael Buholzer/Keystone via AP
Police officers secure the area where a shooting occurred on August 30, 2026, in Aarau, northern Switzerland. AFP via Getty Images
Residents of the area captured on video several successive bangs going off at the time of the shooting, according to footage obtained by the outlet.
Aargau police launched a manhunt for the suspect as police blocked off a large area of the park, including the track, swimming pool and sports fields along with surrounding streets.
Switzerland has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in Europe although violent shootings are rare and it approved tighter gun control rules in 2019.
With Post wires