Zug massacre
Parliament of the Canton of Zug
Zug is located in Canton of Zug
Zug
Zug
Zug (Canton of Zug)
Zug is located in Switzerland
Zug
Zug
Zug (Switzerland)
Native nameZuger Attentat
LocationZug, Switzerland
Coordinates47°10′04″N 8°30′53″E / 47.1678°N 8.5147°E / 47.1678; 8.5147
Date27 September 2001
10:32 a.m. – 10:35 a.m.
Attack type
Mass murder, mass shooting, murder-suicide
Weapons
Deaths15 (including the perpetrator)
Injured18
PerpetratorFriedrich Leibacher

The Zug massacre took place on 27 September 2001 in the city of Zug (Canton of Zug, Switzerland) in the canton's parliament. Friedrich Leibacher shot dead 14 people before killing himself. Leibacher was armed with a civilian version of a Stgw 90, a SIG Sauer pistol, a pump-action shotgun, and a revolver, and wore a homemade police vest.

In the years before the massacre, Leibacher drew attention to himself through repeated lawsuits. These were dismissed, so he assumed he was being persecuted by the state and felt he had to resort to violence. In the aftermath of the shooting, gun laws in Switzerland were tightened and changes in security were enacted.

Shooting

On 27 September 2001 at 10:30 a.m., Leibacher entered the canton's parliament building and started shooting in the hall where the members of parliament were meeting.[1][2] Leibacher was armed with a civilian version of a Stgw 90 (Swiss Army assault rifle),[3] a SIG Sauer pistol, a pump-action shotgun, and a revolver, and wore a homemade orange police vest.[4] Leibacher was able to enter the parliament building without problem.[5]

He killed three members of the Executive Council ("Regierungsräte") and eleven members of the legislature ("Kantonsräte"), and wounded 18 politicians and journalists, some heavily. He fired 91 rounds. He then ignited a homemade bomb and took his own life.[5] His main intended target was the Cantonal Minister Robert Bisig, who was unharmed. Leibacher left a suicide note titled "Tag des Zornes für die Zuger Mafia" ("Day of rage for the Zug mafia"),[2] which referred to his belief there was a plot against him.[5][6]

Perpetrator

Friedrich Leibacher

Leibacher had several failed marriages to women from the Dominican Republic, with one of whom he had a daughter. In 1970 he was convicted of child molestation, incest, theft, forgery and traffic offences, and sentenced to 18 months' detention.[7][8] He served his sentence in a work-training institution.

After leaving detention, Leibacher became unemployed. Doctors diagnosed him with paranoid personality disorder and alcoholism and he received an invalidity pension.[9][8]

In 1998 he was convicted of threatening a bus driver employed by the Zug transport company with a gun, after the driver claimed he had been drinking.[7][10] Leibacher was upset by his treatment, and wrote frequently to the authorities and public figures with letters of complaint. The canton then sued Leibacher for defamation.[7][10] The passage of time did not diminish his grievance as Leibacher began to believe he was the target of a government conspiracy led by Robert Bisig, a member of the cantonal government. He sued Bisig, but in the days before the shooting, his action and six of his other cases were dismissed by the court.[10][11][12]

During the months prior to the shooting, Leibacher closed his bank accounts and sold his shares. The day before the shooting, he instructed a Swiss funeral home that when he died he was to be cremated and have his ashes scattered across the Atlantic.[6] All of the guns Leibacher owned were legally acquired.[6] He was able to buy a pump-action shotgun nine days before the shooting, despite the fact he was under surveillance at the time for threatening someone with a gun.[13]

Aftermath

Victims
  • President of the Cantonal Parliament
  • Herbert Arnet
  • Members of the Cantonal Government
  • Peter Bossard
  • Monika Hutter-Häfliger
  • Jean-Paul Flachsmann
  • Cantonal councilors
  • Martin Döbeli
  • Dorly Heimgartner
  • Kurt Nussbaumer
  • Rolf Nussbaumer
  • Konrad Häusler
  • Erich Iten
  • Karl Gretener
  • Willi Wismer
  • Heinz Grüter
  • Käthi Langenegger

Source: [5]

Afterwards, many local parliaments increased their security or installed security measures. Some established a strict access control for visitors and security passes for the politicians and staff. After the shooting, the cantonal authorities filed to claim Leibacher's estate, valued at SFr400,000.[14] In the aftermath of the shooting, gun laws in Switzerland were tightened.[15] The mayor of Zug described the scene as "a terrible scene of horror" and the shooting as an "attack on our democracy".[16]

On the national level, the Sektion Sicherheit Parlamentsgebäude (section for the security of parliament buildings) was established as part of the Bundessicherheitsdienst (Federal Security Service), a police unit of 35, which secures the Bundeshaus in Bern.[15] As part of a general electronic access control for visitors, access controls with X-ray machines were installed. Further, separate wings of the Bundeshaus were secured with gates, which have to be opened with an access badge/card.

In part due to the attack along with a high rate of gun suicide, a referendum was held in 2011, proposing the ban of the sale of fully automatic weapons and pump-action rifles, and that military-issued firearms must be held in army depots. The referendum was rejected by voters.[13][17]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Gunman kills 14 in Swiss assembly". BBC News. 27 September 2001. Retrieved 3 March 2010.
  2. 1 2 "2001: Swiss man kills 14". BBC News. 27 September 2001. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  3. ↑ Olson, Elizabeth (29 September 2001). "Switzerland Feels Chill of Insecurity After Shooting". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2010.
  4. ↑ Olson, Elizabeth (28 September 2001). "14 Killed in Attack on a Swiss Legislature". The New York Times. p. 6. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Untersuchungsrichterlicher Schlussbericht zum Attentat vom 27. September 2001 im Regierungsgebäude des Kantons Zug [Final report by the investigating judge on the attack on September 27, 2001 in the government building of the canton of Zug] (PDF) (Report) (in Swiss High German). Examining magistrate of the Canton of Zug. General Department. 2003. Retrieved 3 March 2010.
  6. 1 2 3 Mirza, Faryal (23 October 2003). "Zug gunman was "cold-blooded" killer". SWI swissinfo. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  7. 1 2 3 Fleck, Fiona (29 September 2001). "'Forgotten' row may have led to Swiss massacre". The Telegraph. Retrieved 3 March 2010.
  8. 1 2 Karacs, Imre (28 September 2001). "Row with a bus driver led to Swiss massacre". The Independent. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  9. ↑ Crews, Gordon A., ed. (2020). Handbook of Research on Mass Shootings and Multiple Victim Violence. Advances in Criminology, Victimology, Serial Violence, and the Deep Web. Hershey, Pennsylvania: IGI Global. p. 60. ISBN 978-1-7998-0114-6.
  10. 1 2 3 Rose, David (26 August 2007). "'I've given you the chance to help, but you haven't. Now someone is going to have to die'". The Observer. The Guardian. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  11. ↑ "Blutbad im Zuger Kantonsrat - landesweites Entsetzen" [Bloodbath in the Zug cantonal council - nationwide horror]. SWI swissinfo (in Swiss High German). 27 September 2001. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  12. ↑ Osborn, Andrew (30 September 2001). "Murderer with four guns and a grudge". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  13. 1 2 Mooser, Hubert (11 January 2011). "Waffeninitiative – das wollen Befürworter: Amokläufer wie Leibacher vor dem Töten stoppen?" [Gun initiative - this is what supporters want: to stop mass killers like Leibacher before they kill?]. Blick (in Swiss High German). Archived from the original on 14 January 2011. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  14. ↑ "Zug stakes claim to killer's estate". SWI swissinfo. 9 January 2002. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  15. 1 2 "Switzerland's worst-ever gun massacre". SWI swissinfo. SRF. 25 November 2022. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  16. ↑ Bachmann, Helena (28 September 2001). "The Zug Attack: It Can Happen Here". TIME. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  17. ↑ McConville, Ben; Lawless, Jill (18 December 2012). "Around world, massacres have spurred gun control". Associated Press. Retrieved 11 December 2023.

Further reading

  • Das Attentat von Zug [The Zug attack] (Television production). Kriminalfälle (in Swiss High German). PLAY SRF. 28 July 2009. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  • Alte Wunden aufgerissen [Old wounds torn open] (Television production). Schweiz aktuell (in Swiss High German). PLAY SRF. 25 July 2011. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  • Das Attentat von Zug [The Zug attack] (Television production). Es geschah am... (in Swiss High German). PLAY SRF. 12 September 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  • Zug: Zehn Jahre danach [Zug: Ten years on] (Television production). 10 vor 10 (in Swiss High German). PLAY SRF. 26 September 2011. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
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