Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
World
Samuel Osborne

Schaffhausen chainsaw attack: At least five injured in assault by male suspect in the northern Swiss town

At least five people have been injured, two seriously, after a man attacked people with a chainsaw in the Swiss town of Schaffhausen.

Police said the perpetrator has been identified but remains at large after the attack, which prompted them to seal off the centre of the town on the German border.

A shop owner told Swiss newspaper Blick a man with a chainsaw was walking the streets and police later confirmed the report.

Swiss police officers stand at a crime scene in Schaffhausen, Switzerland (REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann)

Police said the attack is not being treated as an act of terrorism.

They described him as being about 6ft 2in, bald and with an unkempt appearance.

Police released pictures of the suspect, who remains at large

Police not name him but issued old photos of the suspect wearing a green T-shirt and black jeans, standing among trees. 

He is believed to be driving a Volkswagen vehicle with Swiss plates from the canton of Graubuenden.

In a statement, police warned "the suspect is dangerous," but said it was unclear whether he still had the chainsaw.

The building where the attack took place is home to a bookshop and insurance and lawyers' offices. It wasn't immediately clear who or what the man's target was. 

A health insurance company that has an office in the building where the attack took place said two of its employees had to be taken to a hospital, Blick reported. 

"We can confirm that a man with a chainsaw came into the agency and seriously wounded two of our employees," said Christina Wettstein, a spokeswoman for insurer CSS.

"They are undergoing operations at the moment and we don't know how they are." 

The company doesn't know yet whether the other three wounded people were customers or passers-by, she added. It also doesn't know whether the attacker was a customer. 

Schaffhausen is a city of about 36,000 north of Zurich, near the border with Germany. 

Police were alerted to the attack at 10:39am (08:39 GMT).

They cordoned off the area and ordered people to leave, and witnesses told local media they saw bleeding victims being treated by rescue crews.

A spokeswoman for the air rescue service told 20 Minuten two helicopter ambulances had been sent to the town.

“We have been alerted and therefore assume there are injured people,” she said.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.