AARAU. It is Maria Spinelli, 22 years old, originally from Atri in Abruzzo and residing in Switzerland for work, the young woman who was killed in the shooting that shocked the night of the Aargau Rave, at the Schachen racetrack. She died on the spot, hit by bullets fired while the party was ending and many participants were leaving the area. Five other people, between 24 and 27 years old, were injured: four men and one woman, hospitalized with injuries of varying severity. The confirmation of the identity arrived during the morning of Sunday, August 30, while the Farnesina Crisis Unit began to follow the case together with the Italian embassy in Bern and the general consulate in Basel.
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The night of the shots
The shots started around three, when the seventh edition of the Aargau Rave, one of the largest techno events in the canton, was about to close. At first, no one understood what was happening: the shots were mistaken for firecrackers, end-of-evening noises, an almost normal background in a context of electronic music and strobe lights. Then the screams, the running to the ground, the people taking cover behind the counter, in the bathrooms, along the exits. “She died before our eyes,” a witness told Tele M1, describing a scene that unfolded in a few seconds. The cantonal police confirmed that a “significant number of shots” were fired inside a large group of people. The area was immediately cordoned off and officers launched a large-scale intervention.
The first official communications
The first notice came during the night, with a message spread on X: “Night shooting during an event in Schachen. Several victims. Massive police intervention underway. Stay away from the area.” Spokeswoman Vanessa Rumpold explained that the shots were fired “inside a large group of people,” while the party was about to end. About a hundred participants remaining on site were gathered in a gym and interviewed by investigators, who are trying to reconstruct the dynamics and identify those responsible.
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The investigations: no lead excluded
The perpetrators of the shooting, according to the latest updates, are no longer in the area and there is no danger to the population. The police are working to clarify how many are responsible and what the motive was. The hypotheses under consideration are various: a quarrel that escalated, targeted shots against specific people, or a more organized action. Some media have suggested a terrorist lead, but investigators urge caution: “The situation does not yet allow conclusions to be drawn,” explained a spokesperson for the canton of Aargau. “All of this remains speculative at this stage.”
A community in shock
The death of Maria Spinelli has deeply shaken both the Italian community in Switzerland and her hometown. Authorities continue to work to reconstruct every detail of the night at the Aarau racetrack, while the hunt for those responsible continues.
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