Swiss chainsaw attacker still on the run
The Local - [email protected]
Published: 25 Jul, 2017 CET.
Updated: Tue 25 Jul 2017 10:58 CET
The man who injured several people on Monday morning after storming a Schaffhausen office building with a chainsaw is still on the run, police have said.
Franz Wrousis, 51, was yesterday named by police as the person who entered the Schaffhausen office of the CSS insurance company on Monday and attacked staff with a chainsaw.
Two CSS employees were injured by the chainsaw, one seriously. Three other people were lightly injured, one in the course of the police operation, Schaffhausen police said in a statement on Tuesday.
Four of the five people taken to hospital have now been released.
Though the motive for the attack is unknown, Wrousis is thought to have specifically targeted CSS, of which he was a customer.
Police stressed on Monday that the attack was not terror-related.
Wrousis, a loner of no fixed abode who is thought to have lived in forests in several parts of Switzerland, fled the scene on Monday in a white VW Caddy that was later found by police in woods near Uhwiesen.
A car belonging to Wrousis was found by police. Photo: Michael Buholzer/AFP
However the man himself remains at large.
An intensive search is under way and police have issued an international warrant for his arrest.
Currently there is nothing to suggest that he has crossed the border into Germany, German officials told the media.
Speaking to 20 Minuten, Ruedi Karrer, the president of Uhwiesen, two kilometres from Schaffhausen, said Wrousis had been living in the nearby forest for two weeks prior to the attack.
He had been acting bizarrely and “told my dog he had a great haircut,” said Karrer.
The suspect is described as 186m tall with brown short hair – contrary to a previous police statement that he was bald.
A picture taken just before the attack shows him wearing a green jacket and black trousers and carrying a black bag thought to contain the chainsaw. He also had an olive backback and white shoulder bag.
Anyone who sees Wrousis should stay away from him and call Schaffhausen police on 052 624 2424 or the emergency number 117.
Police issued this image of Wrousis taken just before the attack. Photo: Schaffhausen police
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Franz Wrousis, 51, was yesterday named by police as the person who entered the Schaffhausen office of the CSS insurance company on Monday and attacked staff with a chainsaw.
Two CSS employees were injured by the chainsaw, one seriously. Three other people were lightly injured, one in the course of the police operation, Schaffhausen police said in a statement on Tuesday.
Four of the five people taken to hospital have now been released.
Though the motive for the attack is unknown, Wrousis is thought to have specifically targeted CSS, of which he was a customer.
Police stressed on Monday that the attack was not terror-related.
Wrousis, a loner of no fixed abode who is thought to have lived in forests in several parts of Switzerland, fled the scene on Monday in a white VW Caddy that was later found by police in woods near Uhwiesen.
A car belonging to Wrousis was found by police. Photo: Michael Buholzer/AFP
However the man himself remains at large.
An intensive search is under way and police have issued an international warrant for his arrest.
Currently there is nothing to suggest that he has crossed the border into Germany, German officials told the media.
Speaking to 20 Minuten, Ruedi Karrer, the president of Uhwiesen, two kilometres from Schaffhausen, said Wrousis had been living in the nearby forest for two weeks prior to the attack.
He had been acting bizarrely and “told my dog he had a great haircut,” said Karrer.
The suspect is described as 186m tall with brown short hair – contrary to a previous police statement that he was bald.
A picture taken just before the attack shows him wearing a green jacket and black trousers and carrying a black bag thought to contain the chainsaw. He also had an olive backback and white shoulder bag.
Anyone who sees Wrousis should stay away from him and call Schaffhausen police on 052 624 2424 or the emergency number 117.
Police issued this image of Wrousis taken just before the attack. Photo: Schaffhausen police
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