Swiss police search for gunman who killed two people and injured another

Swiss police were on the hunt on Monday for a 36-year-old man, considered “dangerous”, who shot several people in the town of Sion, leaving two dead and one injured. “According to initial findings, the perpetrator knew his victims,” the local police said in a statement. The police have put in place a major operation “to apprehend the gunman”.

This type of incident is rare in Switzerland.

Police officers control a bus near Saint Maurice, as they search for a gunman who killed two people and injured another in the southern Swiss town of Sion, on December 11, 202 – FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP or licensors The police have also launched an appeal for witnesses, providing information on the identity of the person and publishing his photo. However, they have warned that “this person is dangerous and under no circumstances should you attempt to arrest him yourself or approach him”.

Authorities were alerted to a wounded person in a parking lot in Sion, the capital of Valais canton, early Monday morning. Officers found a woman with a fatal gunshot wound. A man was shot dead a few minutes later and another woman was wounded.

“Two people died and another was injured”, the police said, adding that the shooter’s motives were not yet known. The local public prosecutor’s office has opened a murder investigation. Switzerland, a country of around nine million people, has a high rate of gun ownership.

Small Arms Survey, a Swiss-based organisation that monitors global trends in armed violence, estimates the number of firearms in civilian possession at 2.3 million.