Swiss Factory Shooting Leaves Three Dead, Seven Wounded [Video]

MENZNAU, Switzerland — Authorities say three people were killed Wednesday and several others seriously injured during a shooting at a factory near the Swiss city of Lucerne.

According to CNN, the shooting occurred at the Kronospan wood processing plant around 9 am in the town of Menznau, about 14 miles west of Lucerne.

Police say the shooter, a 42 -year-old man who died in the attack, had worked for a long time for the factory.

It is believed he arrived at the plant around 9am, drew a pistol and started firing at people. Officials didn’t immediately have further details on the weapon or information on how the assailant was killed.

Local media reports suggest the plant has had to cut production because of a reduction in the timber harvest, but whether this is linked to the shooting is pure speculation at this point.

Following the incident, three helicopters from the Swiss emergency service REGA evacuated six seriously wounded people from the scene of the shooting.

One other victim suffered minor wounds and was treated by medical personnel on site.

The Menznau shooting comes less than two months after a 33-year-old gunman killed three people in the southern Swiss village of Daillon.

Switzerland has a longstanding tradition of gun ownership, and ranks third in the world for the number of guns per inhabitant, after the United States and Yemen.

It is estimated that one in every three of Switzerland’s 8 million inhabitants keeps a gun.

Raw footage of the aftermath of the Swiss factory shooting can be seen in the video below:

Image: Shutterstock