Chainsaw Attacker on the Run After Injuring Multiple People in Switzerland

A man with a chainsaw injured multiple people at an insurance company office Monday.

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Police are searching for a man who reportedly attacked multiple people with a chainsaw in the Swiss town of Schaffhausen on Monday. The incident took place at a health insurance office at approximately 10:30 a.m. local time, BBC Newsreported. The motives of the suspect, 51-year-old Franz Wrousis, have not yet been determined.

"This is not an attack against a hypothetical person," police Major Ravi Landolt told reporters, noting that the attack was not an act of terror. "This is clearly against people from the insurer."

The suspect ultimately wounded two insurance company staff members and three others before leaving the scene, Reutersreported. Though two of those injuries were reported as severe, the victims are expected to survive. A vehicle connected to the attack was found Monday. The suspect—who is believed to have acted alone—is described by police as "aggressive, dangerous, and mentally conspicuous."

"I talked to him a few times and walked by his car every day with our dog," Therese Karrer, who walks her dog in the woods near Schaffhausen, told reporters. She said Wrousis "may have been a little strange," but that she never felt threatened during their encounters. 

According to the Washington Post, the suspect has no current address on record and was previously charged with weapons-related offenses in 2014 and 2016.

At the time of publishing, the suspect remains at large. A manhunt involving more than 100 local police officers from Switzerland and Germany is ongoing.

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