A CHAINSAW attacker who injured five people in Switzerland this morning is a schizophrenic who targeted his health insurance firm before fleeing, police have said.

Franz Wrousis, 51, stormed into the offices of the CSS-Krankenkasse in the town of Schaffhausen, injuring two employees before taking his attack onto the street.

12 Authorities released photos of the main suspect, named as Franz Wrousis, 51. He is being hunted by police on suspicion of carrying out a bloody chainsaw attack in Switzerland Credit: Schaffhausen Police

12 The suspect's white van is pictured being removed by police in a forest in northern Switzerland near where the attacker is said to have lived Credit: Getty Images

12 The vehicle was found in a forest in Uhwiesen near Schaffhausen in the north of the country Credit: Getty Images

12 Armed police locked down the northern Swiss town of Schaffhausen after the chainsaw attack left at least five injured Credit: Reuters

12 Authorities have warned locals to remain vigilant as a manhunt continues Credit: Reuters

12 Locals reported being barricaded inside shops during the ordeal

The troubled suspect, described as a drifter, is accused of then assaulting at least three others before making off in a white VW Caddy.

One of the injured victims is being treated for serious but non-life threatening injuries.

Police confirmed that Wrousis is a schizophrenic who was a client of the health insurance firm he attacked.

He is of no fixed abode and, in between living in hotels and community lodgings, routinely camped out in woodlands living in his VW Caddy.

Footage shows panicked shoppers watching in horror as armed cops sealed off the town centre just after 11am.

Local news site Blick gave accounts from locals saying an elderly man with severe head wounds was rushed in an ambulance to hospital.

A shoe shop worker said one of their customers was among the injured, adding: "Nobody can leave the stores anymore."

Schaffhausen police are leading a massive manhunt after confirming they were responding to a "special situation" — but ruled out a terror motive.

12 Witnesses said the attacker rampaged through the centre of the town and was last seen near an opticians

12 Shoppers have told of being locked in shops while a chainsaw attacker ran riot through the town Credit: AP:Associated Press

12 Police said they are not treating the attack as a terrorist act Credit: Reuters

12 Large parts of the town, home to 36,000 people, have been sealed off as a manhunt is underway Credit: AP:Associated Press

12 Police said five people were injured including two who are in a serious condition Credit: AP:Associated Press

The two injured health employees have undergone emergency surgery this afternoon, a company spokesman said.

A theory has emerged that the attacker was insured by the company which refused to pay out for certain procedures under the terms of his policy.

Wrousis was most recently living in a forest near Uhwiesen, less than two miles from Schaffhausen, where investigators this afternoon found his abandoned VW van.

Police said the "outsider" can act “extremely aggressively” if cornered and warned the public not to approach him, as their search fanned out into woodland surrounding the town.

12 Schaffhausen police spokesperson Cindy Beer updates the media on the ongoing manhunt Credit: EPA

Police major Ravi Landolt said it is assumed the suspect still has the chainsaw with him — and he may be heavily armed with other weapons.

Wrousis has at least two convictions for weapons violations and many other crimes, Maj. Landolt added.

Around 100 officers including counter-terror specialists and reinforcements from neighbouring districts have been drafted in to aid in the search.

Helicopters have also been deployed above the northern town, which lies on the border with Germany.

Air rescue service Rega told 20 Minuten it had scrambled two choppers.

“We have been alerted and therefore assume there are injured people,” a spokeswoman said.

"The police completely sealed off the old town. More and more policemen are coming", a resident told Blick.

Authorities have warned people to avoid the town centre and remain vigilant.

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