Maria Spinelli had moved to Switzerland for work, but on the night of August 30th she was killed in a shooting that broke out during a rave party in Aarau, near Zurich. She is the only victim of the attack that shook the Swiss community and beyond. Five other people were injured, two of these are our compatriots (already discharged). The attacker is still wanted. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed her condolences to the young woman’s family.
Who he was
The 22-year-old was born in Atri, in the province of Teramo, and lived for a certain period of her life in Città Sant’Angelo (Pescara). For some time he had been working in Switzerland, where he lived, as was confirmed by the local police. The young woman was together with hundreds of other kids at the Aarau racecourse where a rave party was taking place. Then around 2.30am on August 30th some shots were fired.
“Unfortunately, when we were able to get an initial idea of the situation and saw that there were injuries, it quickly became clear that any help would come too late for this woman,” said police spokesman Bernhard Graser. Spinelli would have died from the serious injuries she sustained.
Meloni’s message
“I express my deepest condolences for the death of Maria Spinelli, the young Italian victim of the tragic shooting in Aarau, Switzerland. My thoughts also go to the other injured, including two Italian citizens, and to all the people involved in this dramatic event”, declared Prime Minister Meloni. He added: “We are carefully following the developments through the Farnesina and our diplomatic representations, trusting in the work of the Swiss authorities to shed full light on the incident and identify those responsible”.
The searches continue
In fact, the Swiss police are still on the trail of the attacker. Terrorism is also being probed, among other leads. “The search for the unknown perpetrator is underway”, says the cantonal police who arrived on the scene with “a large deployment of forces”. The “possible motives” are also unknown: “The exact circumstances of the crime are still unclear”, adds the police who have already “started their investigations”. A witness would have seen the perpetrator of the attack, armed with a rifle, fleeing towards the forest.
The press conference
A press conference organized by the Swiss police was held after 6.30 pm on August 30. Government advisor and police director of the canton of Aargau, Dieter Egli, confirmed that the motive for the shooting is still unknown. And it doesn’t even mean he was alone. “It is not out of the question” that more than one person opened fire, Aargau police chief Michael Leupold said.
The commander explained that from the testimonies it would appear that the attacker was alone but that “they were very excited moments” and it is therefore not yet possible to be sure. The question was asked by the journalist in reference to the discovery, communicated by the police, of bullets compatible with multiple weapons, specifically a 9 mm pistol and an assault rifle.
Three hypotheses are currently being examined: “The first is a terrorist attack, the second a massacre and the third a criminal act with a motive currently unknown.” “Maybe a reckoning within a certain environment,” Leupold said. The public prosecutor explained that a case of voluntary homicide has been opened on the shooting.