Hostage taking near Yverdon – Police name the perpetrator’s motive – Taser used before fatal shot – News


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A hostage-taking took place on a regional train in western Switzerland. The most important points at a glance.

    The crime: On a train from Sainte-Croix to Yverdon-les-Bains, an armed man took 12 passengers and the train driver hostage on Thursday evening. The police previously spoke of 14 passengers. At around 6:30 p.m. he forced the train driver to leave the cab and go to the passengers. The train then came to a standstill in the small village of Essert-sous-Champvent with the doors locked, says Alain Gorka, head of the Vaud regional police.

The perpetrator: The hostage taker is a 32-year-old asylum seeker from Iran. He threatened the people on the train with an axe, a knife and a hammer, according to the Vaud police. The police did not provide any information about the man’s demands. According to research by RTS television in western Switzerland, the man had arrived at the Boudry federal asylum center in the canton of Neuchâtel. But he was then assigned to the canton of Geneva. There he disappeared and reappeared several times. The risk of suicide was also an issue. According to the research, he was guilty of minor crimes such as theft or drunkenness.

The motif: The Vaud police do not assume an act of terrorism. According to initial investigations, his motives were due to his situation as an asylum seeker and his persistent desire to get in touch with an employee of an asylum seekers’ home.

The hostages: The 12 passengers and the train driver were partially tied up. The perpetrator also went for a walk on the train with some people, as the police explained. Some of the hostages filmed with their cell phones and also informed family members. Some of them came to Essert-sous-Champvent during the four-hour hostage-taking, said police spokesman Jean-Christophe Sauterel. The hostage-taking was also difficult for them to endure.

Federal Councilor Jans wishes you strength and courage


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Legend:

Keystone/Gaetan Bally

Federal Councilor Beat Jans commented on the hostage-taking: “The population has the right to live in safety. I wish those affected and their families strength and courage to overcome these events,” he announced on the X platform. The State Secretariat for Migration will analyze this case and the possible consequences with the affected cantons, added the head of the Federal Department of Justice and Police. (sda)

The police operation: More than 60 officers surrounded the train that evening, the police said. Special forces and snipers were called in from Geneva. The police tried to negotiate with the hostage taker in Farsi and English, sometimes via WhatsApp – in vain.

The train in Essert-sous-Champvent.

Legend:

Fifteen people were held on this train for almost four hours.

Keystone/LAURENT GILLIERON

Access: The 13 people remained in the man’s control for almost four hours. Only when he left the hostages alone on the regional train around 10:15 p.m. did the police storm the train. According to police reports, she placed herself between the perpetrator and the hostages. Explosives were used to distract him.

The death of the hostage taker: The hostage taker then attacked the police forces. One of the police officers used a stun gun to stop the man. However, the gunman continued to run towards the police and the hostages. An officer would therefore have had to use the firearm to protect the victims. The hostage taker was killed. He died on the spot, even though a doctor was present in the police response team.

Political aftermath


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The case will have political consequences. In a communiqué, the SVP Vaud called for “an end to the uncertainty in the asylum area immediately”. Your parliamentary group leader Cédric Weissert will speak at the next session of the Grand Council. National Councilor Yvan Pahud (SVP/VD) will submit an interpellation in Bern to find out the status of the asylum seeker who committed the hostage-taking. The co-president of the Conference of Cantonal Justice and Police Directors (KKJPD), Neuchâtel State Councilor Alain Ribaux (FDP), called for an assessment of the asylum procedure revised in 2019. This analysis should lead to the conclusion that more resources are needed for security, accompaniment and identification in order to better prevent possible danger from asylum seekers. The size of the asylum centers also needs to be considered, said Ribaux in the program “19h30” on the French-speaking Swiss television RTS on Friday evening.

The victims: The 12 passengers and the train driver remained uninjured. “The hostages are fine, but they experienced an extremely stressful situation,” said Police Chief Gorka. They were taken to the regional gendarmerie center in Yverdon, where their families and relatives were already waiting for them. They receive psychological support and are questioned by the police.

Lots of open questions


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Further questions initially remained unanswered. For example, it is unclear at which station the hostage taker got on the train, whether he had psychological problems, how long he had been in Switzerland or whether he had a record of violent acts. Certain media such as the French-speaking Swiss radio and television RTS spoke of an arrival in Switzerland in 2022. The railway company Travys, for its part, said that it had handed over the video surveillance recordings of the wagon and several train stations along the route to the investigators. The company also praised the “exemplary” behavior of its platoon leader. The company said he “interacted with the hostage taker and helped calm the situation.”


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