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 an electronic music event than a rave, ed.) 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”.

There are still many unanswered questions about what happened during the night between Saturday and Sunday. The commander of the Aargau Cantonal Police, Michael Leupold, explained at a press conference on Sunday evening that there are still no indications as to the number of perpetrators, who remain at large, and that no identikit has been produced. The search has been extended to the whole of Switzerland, with the involvement of Fedpol, the Federal Intelligence Service and other police forces (the German police have also offered their assistance, which has been accepted).

Investigators are not ruling out any lines of inquiry: 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 victim was hit at random and some witnesses reported seeing a man running through the crowd.

Investigators suspect that there was not just one attacker, but that at least two people were involved in the shooting. In fact, 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.