SWISS GUNMAN KILLS FOURTEEN

FOURTEEN people were killed by a crazed gunman who burst into a local parliament meeting in Switzerland this morning and screamed abuse as he sprayed the chamber with automatic gunfire.

There were also reports of the attacker throwing hand grenades which blew the doors off the government building in Zug, a wealthy lakeside town near Zurich, before he was shot dead by police. At least 10 people were seriously injured.

"There was blood everywhere," said one witness. "We hear the firefighters, we hear helicopters. People are lying on the ground," said a man in a nearby doctor's office.

Initial reports said the man was either dressed in a police uniform or was wearing combat gear when he launched the attack. He is thought to have been armed with a Swiss army rifle and several handguns.

Three members of the regional government of Zug are among the dead. They had been debating a legal subject which police believe was the subject of the killer's grievance against the government. One witness said: "I looked up when I heard the first shot and saw bodies tumbling all over the place. By the time the shooting had ended, a matter of about 60 seconds, the place was like a war zone, bodies lying everywhere and blood was flowing in the aisles of the chamber."

Another witness told local television: "Shots were fired. We all started to duck, there was blood everywhere and the man was screaming out abuse as he opened fire with his automatic weapon."

A third witness said: "I was just outside the door of the parliament when he came in with a rifle, with several pistols and with what I think was a hand grenade. He started to fire all around.

It was really terrible. It is incredible. I had been talking with one of the members of the government. I heard she was killed.

People were lying on the floor. It is really a nightmare."

Police discovered a car, with Swiss registration plates, parked outside the government chambers and say that other weapons, possibly including more grenades were found in the boot.

Fourteen ambulances, two helicopters and more than 250 police were on the scene shortly after the attack. Of the 10 seriously injured, two are said to be in an extremely critical condition and have been flown to an intensive care unit in Zurich.

Although gun ownership is widespread in Switzerland, violent crime is rare and there are only minimal controls at public buildings. Politicians rarely have police protection.

Peter Hess, president of the Swiss national parliament in Bern who is from Zug, interrupted a regular session to give details of the death toll.

Security in Bern was immediately stepped up.

Copyright 2001
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