This is why I take those passive agressive notes on my windscreen seriously.
Well, it was after 10 PM …
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It seems to be that as of right now
Police press conference started at 14h00. So far, crazy guy shooting at the crowd, then reported himself to the police:
- With certainty, the arrested is also the perpetrator of Sunday. He is a 43-year-old Swiss without a migrant background. He is resident in the canton of Jura.
- It is an amok. Terror and “settling scores”(?) were other possible motives.
- The perpetrator had driven early Sunday morning to the parking lot on the Schachenstrasse. On foot, he walked towards the festival grounds. He was shooting with an assault rifle, in the direction of the fairgrounds. And this over 40 times.
- The perpetrator turned himself in to the Jura police. The Aargau police moved out and transferred the alleged perpetrator to the canton of Aargau.
- The man said he was responsible for the shots in Aarau. In addition, he had been feeling bad psychologically for a long time. He provided details about his mental illness. He did not provide any information about his motive.The evaluations of his car, ammunition and weapons leave no doubt that the man is the perpetrator of Aarau.
So sad.
The man turned himself in to the Jura police on Monday night. He admitted responsibility for the shooting in Aarau and stated that he had been suffering from mental health problems for some time.
If he fired 40 times, I guess we can be thankful only 1 person died.
EDIT: I learned that ultimately 5 died. 
Thankful is a bit too much. I’d say relieved from not being the worst recently…looking at the murder-suicide in Fribourg Post Auto. Guns in the wrong hands are dangerous, but a few litres of gasoline too. Or a car, many common objects can be weaponized.
That’s the usual argument that gun-supporters use.
Yes, you can use almost anything as a weapon but there’s a a greater deal of separation from any intended victims when an attack is carried out from afar and/or without any physical contact.
This makes an attack so much easier for the assailant, whether it is in the home, or out with the general public.
There are, for example, many more mass school attacks in the world with guns rather than knives even though knives are more readily available to everyone.
(and the outcome is worse too).
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5 died? 6 injured, one died is my info. no?
Yes - and owning weapons is a fundamental part of the Swiss culture of independence. We already have a lot of restrictions to comply with EU law - our weapon posession rights usually were much more lax and trust based. As a high trust society should operate.
One shooting in 5-10y doesn’t change this fact one bit imho
No, only one 22 yo Italian woman died. 5 men were injured, but only 2 are still in hospital.
But in Switzerland knife attacks seems to be more frequent, no? An old woman that killed a boy in Basel, one injured and one dead teenage girls found in canton Bern, hostages in the train taken by the refugee with a knife and an axe, a man that injured several persons in Winterthur etc. These are only a few recent cases that came to my mind immediately.
Shootings are somewhat more frequent than that in Switzerland albeit they have declined in frequency over the years.
It’s still far less of an issue than in other places despite the high incidence of gun ownership.
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When stabbings are reported in the news in Baselstadt, it usually states they were carried out by non Swiss. Often it’s Turkish, Algerian or Albanian, but I did read about one at De Wett Park not long ago where the knifeman was reported as Bangladeshi. Prime locations are the street that runs behind Steinenvorstadt or the Kleinbasel side of the Rheinweg late at night.
Forgot to mention this is my impression and opinion about Switzerland, not research. Guns everywhere and somehow relatively low gun violence. I have the impression that there’s a “family drama” (i.e. murder-suicide) once a year. 2,3, 4 victims + the killer. The risk factor seems to be a man with guns in the household, or an ex.
I got curious and checked the homicide stats in Aargau. Stabbings beat shootings 2 to 1, maybe availability matters:
Around the world, I fully agree with you, more guns more mass shootings.
The law here opens the door to denounce someone that is at risk of self-harm or harming others. One of the first things the police do is to take the guns away. But, that did not happen in this case. Either little to no external signs of distress, or living at the margins of society.
Do the police even know which people have guns? The urban myth is that every Swiss male has an automatic weapon in their basement.
This is a question of Swiss culture adapting to the modern world. 1815 is long gone. Guarantees of Swiss neutrality from invasion by Italy, Austria, France and Germany are no longer paramount. Rather the opposite, but Putin’s Russia remains a threat. The West European countries are no longer concerned about Swiss mercenaries.
Armed neutrality with a militia army and guns in private homes is simply an outdated concept. There are almost certainly going to be increased gun controls in the aftermath of this shooting.
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I bet that’s the case in all developed countries though it’s not a denouncement, it’s called welfare check. Our neighboring countries have them, too, as do the US.
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Thanks for the proper translation. You’re right, it’s not exclusive to Switzerland. The point is no one around did it.
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