Geneva: An angry employee who feared unemployment at Kronospan wood panel plant in Menznau, near Lucerne in central Switzerland killed three of his co-workers and wounded seven with automatic weapon on Wednesday.
According to a local newspaper “Willisauerer Bote” the company had just announced it was cutting production after a poor logging season and was planning to cut his staff bill also to manage losses. The gunman, who also died, had worked for more than 10 years at the Kronospan wood panel plant in Menznau, near Lucerne in central Switzerland.
He had no record of making trouble, police and factory officials said.
Three helicopters from the Swiss emergency service REGA evacuated four seriously wounded people from the scene of the shooting.
“We’re all in shock. We’ll do everything we can to help the victims’ loved ones and support them financially,” Urs Fluder, a member of Kronospan’s board, told local station Radio Pilatus.
“The company will keep going as normally as possible,” he added.
Owned by Austrian group Kronospan, the factory is the top employer in Menznau, giving jobs to about 400 people in the community of almost 2,600.
