Police: Man wounds 5 people in northern Swiss city
By Associated Press
Jul 24, 2017 7:02 AM CDT
The police shut down the old town of Schaffhausen in Switzerland, while they search for an unknown man who attacked people, on Monday, July 24, 2017. Swiss police say five people have been hospitalized, two of them with serious injuries, following the apparent attack in the northern city of Schaffhausen....   (Associated Press)

BERLIN (AP) — An unkempt man armed with a chainsaw wounded five people Monday at an office building in the northern Swiss city of Schaffhausen and then fled, police said. A manhunt is on for him.

Police were alerted to the incident at 10:39 a.m. (0839 GMT). Five people were taken to the hospital, two of them with serious injuries, police said.

A rescue helicopter was brought in to help the victims and the old town in Schaffhausen was sealed off.

"This case is not a terrorist act," police said, without elaborating on what the man's motive might have been.

By Monday afternoon, Swiss police had identified the suspect, whom they described as being about 1 meter 90 centimeters tall (6.2 feet) with a bald head and an unkempt appearance.

The man was believed to be driving a white Volkswagen minivan with registration plates from the southeastern Swiss canton (state) of Graubuenden.

Police warned in a statement that "the suspect is dangerous," but said it wasn't clear whether he still had the chainsaw.

The building where the attack took place is home to a bookshop and insurance and lawyers' offices. It wasn't immediately clear who or what the man's target was.

Schaffhausen is a city of about 36,000 north of Zurich, near the border with Germany.

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