A Swiss man with a grudge against local officials sprayed assault rifle fire and set off an explosive during a session of a state parliament Thursday, killing 14 people before turning the gun on himself, officials said.
Three of the Zug canton's seven-member government were killed and two were seriously injured, including government president Hanspeter Uster, said Robert Bisig, a government official who survived the attack by diving behind a desk.
Authorities said the man, identified as 57-year-old Friedrich Leibacher, had been locked in a legal conflict with local authorities following a dispute with a bus driver in Zug that escalated into a vendetta against transport and justice authorities.
The man — who wore a stolen, orange police vest — stormed into a morning joint session of the state government and parliament, firing a standard-issue Swiss army weapon. He then detonated an explosive device before fatally shooting himself, said Zug police chief Urs Hurlimann.
As lawmakers hit the floor in panic and the injured screamed in pain, journalists who were covering the parliamentary meeting cowered behind their desks for cover.
There was then an explosion, he said, and smoke filled the room. The force of the blast ripped doors off and shattered windows of the stately building near Zug's quaint old town and glistening lake.
The gunman used a 5.6 mm SIG "Sturmgewehr 90," the Swiss-made assault rifle commonly used by the country's militia army, police said. It was not clear, however, if he was a soldier or policeman.
Swiss President Moritz Leuenberger broke off a meeting with Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade and headed to Zug upon news of the attack. He ordered all state flags to fly at half-staff for the next three days. A religious service was planned in Zug's church for the evening.
(People's Daily 09/28/2001)
