Man Stabs 3 People at Swiss Train Station in What Authorities Call ‘Act of Terror’

GenevaA man stabbed and wounded three people at a train station in Winterthur, Switzerland, on Thursday in what authorities described as an “act of terrorism” and was not arrested.

The attack took place shortly before 8.30am. District police chief Marius Weyermann said the suspect, who was arrested five minutes after emergency services were alerted, was a 31-year-old dual Swiss-Turkish citizen living in Winterthur.

Weyermann added that he came to the attention of authorities in 2015 for distributing propaganda from the Islamic State group. He was taken to a psychiatric facility recently after calling the police’s emergency number and making “mixed comments”, but left on Wednesday after a doctor determined he was not dangerous.

Three Swiss men, aged 28, 43 and 52, were injured in Thursday’s attack. The first two had been discharged or were about to be released from hospitals by the afternoon, Weyermann said. The eldest is still hospitalized after surgery for a thigh injury.

Investigators believe the man acted alone, Weyermann said.

Mario Fehr, the Zurich area’s top security official, called the attack a “bad act of terrorism.” He said the suspect was born in Switzerland, gained Swiss citizenship in 2009, and had apparently spent most of the last two years in Türkiye.

Winterthur has a population of approximately 123,000 and is located in northeastern Switzerland, near the country’s largest city, Zurich.