On the night between Friday and Saturday, a gun shop in Sion was burgled shortly before midnight. The perpetrators forced open the front door and made their escape in a vehicle registered in France. What followed was a chase involving drones, a Swiss Army Super Puma helicopter equipped with night vision and thermal imaging, dog units, the Valais cantonal police, the Vaud police and several municipal police forces. In the end, seven people were arrested. They are all French nationals, aged between 16 and 31. The youngest is 16.
The suspects forced their way through a police checkpoint before abandoning their car in Vérossaz, a municipality in Lower Valais, and attempting to escape on foot. Their plan failed. A significant portion of the stolen goods was recovered. The Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Juvenile Court of the canton of Valais have launched an investigation.
What makes this case all the more striking is the context: it was the second raid on a gun shop in Sion in less than a month. The first, at the Dayer gun shop, resulted in the arrest of four French nationals and one Portuguese national in Martigny. Two robberies in the same town in less than 30 days is a coincidence that is no longer just that.
Switzerland has one of the strictest gun control systems in Europe. It also has a high number of gun shops relative to the size of the country. The fact that the same city has been targeted twice in a month raises questions about whether the physical security of these premises is commensurate with what they hold. And with what might remain in circulation if not everything is recovered.