Swiss shooting: Gunman found dead near Zurich Islamic centre Published duration 20 December 2016

image copyright AFP image caption The gunman's body was later found with a gun beside it under a bridge a few streets away

A man who shot and wounded three people at an Islamic centre in the Swiss city of Zurich has been found dead a short distance away.

He has been identified as a 24-year-old Swiss man wanted for a murder near Zurich on Sunday.

The attacker opened fire on Monday evening at a Somali-Islamic centre close to Zurich station.

His body and a gun were later spotted under a bridge a few streets away. Police confirmed it was the attacker.

Police said the gunman had no links to jihad and had no idea why he had picked the mosque as a target. They told reporters that he had juvenile convictions for assault and stealing motorbikes and his home was full of objects linked to the occult.

His DNA matched traces found at the scene of a fatal stabbing at a playground at Schwamendingen, to the north-east of Zurich, on Sunday.

Local media said that around 10 people had been at the Islamic centre when the gunman entered the building at around 17:30 (16:30 GMT), wearing dark clothes and a woollen hat.

The three victims, aged 30, 35, and 56, had all been given emergency surgery and their condition was described by police as stable on Tuesday.

After opening fire, the gunman ran off and police began a search of the surrounding streets. His body, with a gun beside it, was eventually found beneath the Gessner bridge a few hundred metres away.

Most of the centre's congregation comes from Somalia, Eritrea and North Africa.

One worshipper at the centre told Neue Zuercher Zeitung that people there were very scared.

"Our children come to the mosque every weekend. But now I wonder if we're still safe here," he said.

Related Topics Switzerland

Zürich