Switzerland: Police arrest knife attack suspect

Two passersby were severely wounded and another four slightly wounded in an indiscriminate knife attack in the northern Swiss town of Zofingen, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of the city of Basel and the German border, according to local police.

“We have several injured,” a police spokesperson told the dpa news agency, adding that they had been taken to hospital.

Police said they had received calls that a man had attacked people with a “sharpened or pointed weapon” at the local railway station. The attacker then reportedly fled into a nearby building, randomly injuring people on the way.

Locals had been told to avoid the area as police began their operation.

What we know about the attack

Police confirmed on social media at 18:48 CET that the perpetrator had been apprehended by special forces after hiding in a building for two hours.

They later said they had arrested a single attacker and completed the large-scale operation.

The perpretator “who is assumed to have acted alone” has been identified as a foreign male around 40 years old, according to local police. His motive for the attack is still unclear.

All six victims are being treated at the hospital for stab wounds. Among those injured are two teachers from Zofingen cantonal school and a pregnant woman who sustained cuts to her face but who’s life is no longer in danger. The perpetrator is also under medical attention for self-inflicted stab wounds.

sb,mf/lo,ab (dpa, AFP)