Swiss police announced on Tuesday that they had caught the forest-dwelling loner who attacked two health insurance employees with a chainsaw.

"The suspect, who is thought to have injured two people with a chainsaw, was arrested this evening by police from the canton of Zurich," the police said in a statement. They announced a press conference for 10 a.m. local time (8 a.m. GMT/UTC) on Wednesday, saying no further information would be provided beforehand.

Police earlier said the offender was a 50 or 52-year-old man with a criminal history and no fixed address, who reportedly spent significant time living in a forest.

Read more: Man goes on chainsaw rampage in Schaffhausen, Switzerland

"This is a dangerous and aggressive man," the chief of security in Schaffhausen, Ravi Landoldt, told reporters on Monday. "This was not his first contact with police."

The man was detained in 2014 and again in 2016 for weapons violations, police said.

Residents were warned to avoid the forest where had previously been seen living.

He was arrested in the town of Thalwil in the canton of Zurich, dispelling fears that he could have fled to Germany. German police and helicopters were involved in the international manhunt.

Authorities said the man was a client of health insurer CSS and targeted the agency, though the motive was unclear.

One of the victims was seriously injured, but was not in a life-threatening condition. Two other customers at the scene were treated for shock, while a fifth person was hurt during the police response, authorities said.

aw/msh (Reuters, AP, dpa)