Swiss police: 3 injured in gunman’s attack at Zurich mosque

By Franziska Scheven

 

ZURICH — A gunman dressed in black stormed into the prayer hall of a mosque frequented by Somali immigrants and opened fire, wounding three people before fleeing, a Zurich police spokesman said Monday.

 

Police, who rushed to the scene in a central neighborhood known for trendy cafes and the city’s red-light district, were also investigating a possible connection to the discovery of a corpse at nearby Gessner bridge over the Sihl River, police spokesman Marco Bisa said.

 

Authorities weren’t considering the attack as terrorism, he said. Police also said it was too early to determine whether there might be any link to an incident in Berlin also on Monday, where a truck rammed into a Christmas market, killing at least nine people.

 

“The unknown person fired several shots and fled from the building,” Bisa told reporters near the mosque, which was cordoned off by police. “The shooting took place inside a prayer room with several people in it. Two victims were severely injured.”

 

Bisa said the injured were hospitalized and were aged 30, 35 and 56 years old, but did not specify their nationalities. He said witnesses described the attacker as clad head to foot in black, and was believed to be aged about 30 years old.

 

At the scene, Abukav Abshirow, a 30-year-old Somali man who works at a Zurich car dealership, said his friend was among the injured. He recalled how they had been celebrating a religious occasion at the center the night before.

 

“I am under shock,” he said. “We’ve had great times here. The atmosphere was always friendly and happy at the center ... I am very, very sad this happened. We never had problems here before. We spend the weekend here with our children in peace.”

 

“I am waiting to find out what happened, and who is responsible,” he said.

 

Attacks by gunmen are rare in Switzerland. The country was shaken in 2013 by at least two multiple-fatality shootings.

 

The country has a long-standing tradition for men to keep their military rifles after completing compulsory military service — which partly explains a high rate of gun ownership in the country of about 8.2 million people.

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Jamey Keaten contributed from Geneva.

 

-- © Associated Press 2016-12-20

The high rate of gun ownership is the most likely the reason the terrorists do not get up to much in Switzerland in case they get shot.

7 hours ago, lungnorm said:

The high rate of gun ownership is the most likely the reason the terrorists do not get up to much in Switzerland in case they get shot.

And the compulsory military service. A tight, neutral bunch with an isolationist policy that keeps them under the worldwide s**tstorm. Other than the occasional finding of a Nazi treasure trove, hardly any news comes out there!

An off-topic post has been removed.   Please stay on topic.   I don't think this topic has much to do with Obama.  

9 minutes ago, Scott said:

An off-topic post has been removed.   Please stay on topic.   I don't think this topic has much to do with Obama.  

 

Nor with Islamic terrorism

39 minutes ago, simple1 said:

 

Nor with Islamic terrorism

 

I think the odds are quite high that this exactly about muslim terrorism, or some reaction to it.

1 minute ago, halloween said:

 

I think the odds are quite high that this exactly about muslim terrorism, or some reaction to it.

 

Swiss police are currently claiming no connection to Islamists or extreme right wing, but a weirdo involved in the occult who also committed a very recent murder elsewhere