Chainsaw attack suspect was armed, but didn't resist arrest
Prosecutor Peter Sticher, and senior regional police officer Ravi Landolt attend a news conference of the police Schaffhausen on the arrest of a man who injured five people with a chainsaw two days ago, in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, Wednesday, July 26, 2017. Landolt said “based on the photos that were published during the course of the investigation, there were tips from the region which eventually led to the arrest of the suspect”.
The suspect in a chainsaw attack on a health insurer's office in Switzerland was carrying a bag with two crossbows when he was detained, but didn't resist arrest, police and prosecutors said Wednesday.
Suspect Franz Wrousis was arrested Tuesday evening in Thalwil, a lakeside town south of Zurich and some 63 kilometers (nearly 40 miles) by road from the scene of Monday morning's attack in Schaffhausen. Police said they don't yet know how and when Wrousis got there.
The 50-year-old suspect was arrested after police was tipped off by locals. Prosecutor Peter Sticher said Wrousis was alone and on foot at the time of his arrest, and that "the arrest went without resistance — he behaved properly and cooperatively."
Sticher said at a news conference in Schaffhausen that Wrousis was carrying a plastic bag with two loaded crossbows and two sharpened wooden slats.
Wrousis is accused of attacking two employees of a health insurance company at their office in Schaffhausen's old town. One of them was seriously hurt, though the injuries were not considered life-threatening. Authorities are still searching for the chainsaw used in the attack.
Two customers were treated for shock after they witnessed the attack, and another person was slightly injured during the subsequent police operation. All but one of the five have left the hospital.
Authorities have said Wrousis, a client of health insurer CSS, targeted the agency, although his motive remains unclear.
Following the attack, they issued several photos of Wrousis, which led to "tips from the region" and his arrest, senior regional police official Ravi Landolt said. He declined to elaborate.
The suspect will be examined by a doctor before being questioned, Landolt said.
