GENEVA, Switzerland - Swiss police were hunting a "dangerous" gunman who killed two people and injured another Monday in the southern town of Sion.
(Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)
A massive police operation was underway to find the 36-year-old man behind the mass shooting, a rare event in the wealthy Alpine nations.
Police said he had fired shots at people in two distinct locations in the picturesque town in the Alpine Wallis region shortly before 8 am (0700 GMT).
"Two people were killed and another was injured," regional police said in a statement, adding that the man's motives for carrying out the shootings remained unknown.
However, they said initial information indicated that the shooter knew his victims.
Numerous heavily-armed police were patrolling the highway into Sion, and were scouring the town for man, who they described as "dangerous".
"We are actively hunting the presumed perpetrator," police said, warning that "under no circumstances should (members of the public) try to stop him or approach him".
The Wallis public prosecutor's office has launched a murder investigation, it added.