Hostage-taker was 32-year-old asylum seeker from Iran
Published: Friday, Feb 9th 2024, 21:21
Updated At: Friday, Feb 9th 2024, 21:21
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The man who took twelve passengers and the train driver hostage on a regional train in the canton of Vaud on Thursday evening has been identified. He is a 32-year-old asylum seeker of Iranian nationality. He had resisted a Taser shot before he was shot dead by a police officer.
Contrary to a report from the previous day, his case was assigned to the canton of Geneva and not the canton of Neuchâtel, as the Vaud cantonal police announced in a communiqué late on Friday afternoon. The number of hostages was 13 and not 15, it added.
The police also gave more details about the weapons the hostage-taker had with him: not only an axe and a knife, but also a hammer.
According to initial investigations, his motives were due to his situation as an asylum seeker and his persistent desire to make contact with a member of staff at an asylum seekers' home. The police had had to intervene several times because of his behavior.
Long negotiations
The police also revealed some new details about the storming of the train at around 10.15pm, after almost four hours of "lengthy negotiations" with the hostage-taker. The hostage-taking had been reported at around 6.30 p.m., the train was at the Essert-sous-Champvent stop with its doors closed. Around 60 police officers had taken up positions around the train.
"One of the emergency services initially used his stun gun to stop the man who was running towards him. However, the gunman continued to run towards them and the hostages. A second member of the unit used his weapon to neutralize him," according to the police.
The hostage-taker was fatally shot. He died at the scene, although a doctor was present in the police response team. The police confirmed that the 13 hostages, who were freed immediately, were unharmed.
They were treated on site by a medical service and then taken by bus to the mobile gendarmerie center in Yverdon-les-Bains, where they received psychological support from a specialized team.
Apparently not an act of terrorism
Investigations are continuing under the direction of the Vaud public prosecutor's office. On the one hand, the aim is to clarify the motives of the hostage-taker and, on the other, to determine the circumstances that led to the shooting of the police officer, the police announced on Friday evening.
According to the police, there were no indications of a terrorist act until Friday evening. "Neither terrorist nor jihadist," Jean-Christophe Sauterel, spokesman for the Vaud police, told Keystone-SDA on Friday. So: not Islamic-militant either.
Many unanswered questions
Other questions initially remained unanswered. For example, it is unclear at which station the hostage-taker boarded the train, whether he had mental health problems, how long he had been in Switzerland or whether he had a record of violent crimes. Certain media outlets, such as the French-speaking Swiss radio and television station RTS, spoke of an arrival in Switzerland in 2022.
For its part, the rail company Travys stated that it had handed over the video surveillance recordings of the carriage and several stations along the route to the investigators. The company also praised the "exemplary" behavior of its train driver. He had "interacted with the hostage-taker and helped to calm the situation", the company said.
Political aftermath
The case will have political repercussions. In a communiqué, the Vaud SVP called for "an immediate end to the uncertainty in the area of asylum". Its parliamentary group leader Cédric Weissert will take the floor in the next session of the Grand Council. National Councillor 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 Councillor Alain Ribaux (FDP), called for a review of the revised asylum procedure in 2019.
This analysis should lead to the conclusion that more resources are needed for security, monitoring and identification in order to better prevent potential danger from asylum seekers. The size of the asylum centers also needs to be considered, Ribaux said on Friday evening's "19h30" programme on RTS television in French-speaking Switzerland.
Federal Councillor Beat Jans also commented on the hostage-taking. "The population has the right to live in safety. I wish those affected and their families the strength and courage to overcome these events," he said on Platform X. The Head of the Federal Department of Justice and Police added that the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) would analyze this case and the possible consequences with the cantons concerned.
©Keystone/SDA
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