Gunman opens fire on Muslims
2007-11-13 14:02
Zurich - A lone gunman used a military
assault rifle to fire on a dozen worshippers at an Islamic centre
in French-speaking Switzerland late on Monday, injuring one
seriously, police said on Tuesday.
A 23-year-old local man, described by police as a practicing
Swiss Muslim, was detained in connection with the attack.
Police had scrambled to intercept a man carrying a weapon
openly on the streets of Bussigny-pres-Lausanne near the
lakeside city of Lausanne, according to a police statement.
The man entered the centre and fired over a dozen rounds
toward a prayer room, police spokesperson Jean-Christophe Sauterel said.
"He injured one person seriously before worshippers
immobilised him on the ground," police said.
Sauterel said a possible motive for the shooting had not
been established and that the man had acted alone.
The man used his military weapon and ammunition, police
said.
Switzerland's militia system allows soldiers to keep their
weapons and ammunition at home, which has become the object of
controversy in the wealthy Alpine country following recent
attacks and high suicide rates involving military weapons kept
at home.
In 2004 in Lausanne, a man wielding a knife attacked a
Muslim prayer leader and wounded three others at an Islamic
centre. He was not charged for the act after a judge ruled him
unable to stand trial due to a psychological disorder.