A gunman with psychiatric and drug problems killed three women and wounded two men in a shooting spree in the tiny village where he lived in the mountains of southern Switzerland, officials said yesterday.

Police shot and wounded the suspect after he threatened them with a gun following the attack in Daillon that raised fresh questions about the country’s liberal gun ownership laws.

The 33-year-old opened fire on Wednesday at 8.50pm on the streets of the picturesque village that is surrounded by vineyards, said Robert Steiner, police commander in the local canton of Valais.

Swiss media quoted local residents as alleging the gunman, whom they named only as Cedric, had been drinking heavily before the shooting.

Local restaurant owner Marie-Paule Udry said the suspect had been in her establishment prior to the shooting, adding: “He had drunk a lot.”

Police said he used two weapons: a historic Swiss military rifle known as a mousqueton and a shotgun.

The suspected shooter fired around 20 shots, instantly killing three women aged 32, 54 and 79, officials said, and injuring two men, aged 33 and 63. Of the two injured, one was in critical condition, police said, while the second was recovering after being wounded in the shoulder.

Le Matin newspaper said the 63-year-old who was shot in the shoulder, a former policeman, was the suspect’s uncle and his neighbour and was involved in a family dispute with the gunman. The alleged shooter lived in the house his parents had given him when they divorced. He was wounded during an exchange of gunfire while being apprehended by police and was also taken to a hospital, where he was in intensive care.

Officials said the gunman, whom police did not identify, had spent time in a psychiatric hospital in 2005 and was known to police as a drug user.

Police had previously confiscated weapons when he was placed in a psychiatric ward.

His motives for the shooting were not known. Officials confirmed he was a resident of the village of 400 residents.

Forensic investigators were at work yesterday in the village, which is perched at an altitude of 1,000 metres. Cantonal police spokesman Jean-Marie Bornet said police had only returned fire after coming under threat.

Gun ownership is widespread in Switzerland, where citizens are allowed to keep their weapons at home outside periods of mandatory military service.

The law allows any citizen aged over 18 to possess arms under certain conditions and there are an estimated two million weapons in private hands among Switzerland’s population of eight million.

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