A woman with Swiss citizenship attacked on the fifth floor of the Manor shopping center in the center of Lugano, which lies in the canton of Ticino near the border with Italy. One woman was strangled by the assailant, another by a knife. One of the victims suffered serious injuries that do not endanger their lives, the other has minor injuries.
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She stole the knife in the store
According to Corriere del Ticino, the attacker stole a knife from the household needs department right in the department store in Piazza Dante. Two customers managed to pacify her, who detained her until the police arrived.
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The motive for the crime is not yet clear, but according to the Swiss media, the police do not rule out that it was a terrorist attack. According to one witness quoted by Corriere del Ticino, the 28-year-old woman shouted at the act of being a member of the Islamic State (IS). She also allegedly evoked Allah akbar (Arabic God is great). However, neither the police nor the prosecutor’s office confirmed this. However, Matteo Cocchi, the head of Ticino’s cantonal police, said the assailant, who lives in the Lugano area, was known to the police.
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Reuters recalled that Switzerland had so far avoided major terrorist acts with an Islamist motive. But local secret services record hundreds of people they see as a security threat. Many of them have fought in the ranks of radical organizations in the Middle East in recent years. Police detained two men in the Swiss city of Winterthur in early November in connection with the terrorist attack in Vienna.
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