Suspect in chain saw attack is arrested

After a search by hundreds of officers, Swiss police arrested and charged a 51-year-old man suspected of attacking health insurance employees last week with a chain saw, authorities said on Wednesday.

The suspect, Franz Wrousis, who had evaded the police for 36 hours, was detained late Tuesday in Thalwil, near Zurich, after a tip from a resident who recognized him from images released by authorities, said Ravi Landolt, a senior investigator for the regional police in Schaffhausen, where the attack took place.

Wrousis was on foot and carrying a plastic bag containing two crossbows loaded with arrows and two sticks with spiked tips at the time of his arrest, a prosecutor, Peter Sticher, said at a news conference.

The suspect did not have a chain saw with him, and police were still searching for the one used in the attack, Sticher said.

“The arrest took place without protest; he behaved himself and was cooperative,” Sticher added.

Wrousis was handed over to authorities in Schaffhausen and charged with committing multiple personal assaults.

A motive for the assault was still unclear, authorities said. The attack injured two employees, and two customers of the CSS Insurance company were treated at the scene for shock. One more man was slightly injured by Schaffhausen police, they said in a statement.

One person remained hospitalized, police said.

It was not immediately clear how the suspect had traveled the roughly 40 miles to Thalwil, on the shore of Lake Zurich.

Swiss police had mobilized 300 officers to search for the suspect, calling in reinforcements from neighboring areas.