Gunman kills 3 in Swiss village
2013-01-03 09:47
Geneva - A gunman has opened fire in a village in southern Switzerland,
killing three people and wounding two others, police said on Thursday.
The man, who had reportedly been drinking heavily before the shooting and
was armed with an assault rifle, launched the attack in the village of Daillon
late on Wednesday.
As police rushed to the scene to stop the attack, they exchanged fire with
the gunman and wounded him, police said. He had been taken to hospital, they
said.
"Three victims died at the scene. Two other people were wounded and
hospitalised," said police in the canton of Valais, which borders Italy
and France.
Attack
They did not identify the attacker and his motives were not immediately
clear.
At around 19:50 "the cantonal police headquarters was told that an
individual was shooting at residents of the village", police said in a
statement on Thursday.
They were told that "several injured people are lying on the ground",
adding that police accompanied by special units "immediately intervened
and neutralised the suspect", the statement added.
The police came under threat and there was an exchange of fire, resulting in
the suspect being wounded, cantonal police spokesperson Jean-Marie Bornet said.
None of the police were hurt.
The public prosecutor of Valais went to the scene and an inquiry was opened.
Drunk a lot
Internet site 20Minutes.ch said the shooter was armed with an assault rifle.
He was a resident of the village aged around 30 who had drunk a lot before the
shooting, 20Minutes.ch said, quoting a local restaurateur.
Marie-Paule Udry told the site: "He had been in the Channe d'Or earlier
in the evening. He had drunk a lot."
In Switzerland, where men are allowed to keep their weapons at home outside
periods of military service, the law allows any Swiss citizen aged over 18 to
possess arms under certain conditions.
The defence ministry says there are some two million weapons in private
hands among Switzerland's eight million inhabitants. But the authorities say
there are also some 240 000 unregistered weapons.
