What do we know about the shooting at the rave party in Switzerland in which Maria Spinelli was killed?

At around 3 a.m. on Sunday, 30 August 2026, a shooting took place at a rave party (or at least that is what the Swiss police called it, although it seemed more like a licensed event than a spontaneous party) at the Schachen racecourse in Aarau, Switzerland. Five people were injured, two seriously, and one died: Maria Spinelli, from Atri in Abruzzo, who had recently moved there to work in the hospitality sector. On X, Giorgia Meloni expressed her “deepest condolences”.

The police have announced that a 43-year-old Swiss man believed to be responsible for the attack was stopped and arrested during the night between Sunday and Monday. “The investigation into the exact sequence of events, the context and the possible motive is currently underway,” reads the police statement. At present, the authorities believe a single individual was responsible.

Investigators are not ruling out any leads: from Islamist terrorism to white supremacist terrorism, from a settling of scores between criminal gangs to the act of a madman. In recent hours, the theory of a shootout between criminals has been gaining ground. The person who was shot was hit by chance, and some witnesses have reported seeing a man running through the crowd.

Many questions remain unanswered, starting with the fact that cartridge casings of different calibres were found at the Schachen racecourse: some were 9 millimetres – a calibre generally used for pistols and submachine guns – whilst others were compatible with those used by assault rifles, according to the police.