BERLIN (AP) — An unkempt man armed with a chainsaw wounded five people Monday at an office building in the northern Swiss city of Schaffhausen and then fled, police said. A manhunt was on for him.
Police were alerted to the attack at 10:39 a.m. Five people were taken to the hospital, two of them with serious injuries, police said.
Police warned “the suspect is dangerous” but added “this case is not a terrorist act.” They said it wasn’t clear whether he still had the chainsaw.
A rescue helicopter was brought in to help the victims and the old town in Schaffhausen was sealed off.
By Monday afternoon, Swiss police had identified the suspect and released photos. They did not name him. The man was believed to be driving a white Volkswagen minivan with plates from the southeastern Swiss canton of Graubuenden.
A health insurance company that has an office in the Schaffhausen building where the attack took place said two of its employees had to be taken to a hospital, the Swiss daily Blick reported.
CSS spokeswoman Christina Wettstein told Blick the two were undergoing medical operations after the attack Monday and she doesn’t know how they are doing.
She said it’s not clear who the other three wounded people are and said the company is checking to see if they are customers.
Schaffhausen is a city of about 36,000 people north of Zurich, near the border with Germany.
