A knife-wielding attacker stabbed three people at a main transit hub in Switzerland's sixth largest city on Thursday, in what regional officials have officially declared an act of terrorism, AFP reported.
Commuters and bystanders fled the central train station in Winterthur as a man - later identified by authorities as a 31-year-old Swiss-Turkish national - began randomly attacking individuals while shouting “Allahu Akbar".
Mario Fehr, the director of security for the Swiss canton of Zurich, addressed the public during an emergency press conference, stating, "I am exceptionally calling this a terrorist attack".
Regional police commander Marius Weyermann echoed that assessment, detailing to reporters that it was "clear from the scene that the motive for this act must be sought in the realm of radicalization and extremism".
The knife assault left three men, aged 28, 43, and 52, wounded. The oldest victim sustained severe stab wounds to his thigh, requiring immediate emergency surgery. The violence drew a swift response from Swiss President Guy Parmelin, who expressed his profound dismay.
"I am shocked by the terrorist attack... This deeply affects me," President Parmelin stated, adding, "I wish the three injured a swift and full recovery. And I thank the emergency services for their work".
Cell phone footage broadcast by domestic media outlets captured the suspect - sporting a black T-shirt, shorts, long dark hair, and a full beard - raising his right hand and running outside the station.
An anonymous young witness recounted the terrifying moments to the Blick newspaper, noting that bystanders and a nearby group of young children on a school trip scrambled across the road in fear.
"I heard a man scream 'Allahu akbar' five or six times, in a very agitated manner," the witness told the publication, admitting, "I still have goosebumps".
According to regional investigators, the suspect grew up in Winterthur and obtained Swiss citizenship in 2009, though he spent the majority of the last two years residing in Turkey.
Authorities revealed the suspect had a documented history of religious extremism; he was linked to a radical local mosque whose imam was charged in 2017 for inciting the murder of non-practicing Muslims. Furthermore, he faced a formal complaint in 2015 for allegedly violating national bans against spreading propaganda for the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group.
While Switzerland has not been targeted by terrorism as other countries in Europe have been in recent years, the country in 2017 arrested suspected radicals who plotted attacks in France.
In 2022, Switzerland arrested three people in the cantons of Zurich, Sankt Gallen and Lucerne and were accused of "participation in or support for the outlawed organization Islamic State". They were arrested in a joint operation with Germany.