Zug assassination attempt

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The parliament building in Zug

The attack in Zug was carried out on September 27, 2001 during a meeting of the Cantonal Council in the parliament building of the Canton of Zug . 14 politicians were shot by the assassin Friedrich Leibacher, who shortly afterwards took his own life. Leibacher had previously drawn attention to himself for years through excessive use of legal remedies and felt himself treated so badly and disadvantageously by the rule of law that he felt compelled to commit this act.

The assassin came with a home-made police vest and several weapons including an assault rifle 90 in the civilian version, a gun SIG Sauer P232, a pump action Remington 870 and a revolver S & W Model 19-7 undisturbed wild to Zug parliament building and shot in the hall of the meeting participants Parliament around. He killed three members of the government and eleven cantonal councilors , injured numerous politicians and some journalists, some seriously. He fired a total of 91 shots. He also detonated a homemade bomb. His main target, the Zug government councilor Robert Bisig , remained unharmed. Leibacher left a farewell letter at the crime scene with the title "Day of Wrath for the Zug Mafia". Apparently he thought he was the victim of a plot against himself.

This attack was the first of its kind in Switzerland and a traumatic experience for the entire Canton of Zug. The whole of Switzerland was deeply saddened and saddened. Worldwide, also under the impression of the recent attacks of September 11th in New York City , indignation about this act spread. Many parliaments and organizations around the world sent messages of condolence.

Sequence of events

The canton council chamber in which Fritz Leibacher shot around

At 10:00 a.m., a pedestrian in Inwil near Baar noticed Leibacher when he stopped with his car in the middle of the street. He got out and took off a dark jacket under which he wore a dark blue vest with the words "Police" on it. Thereupon he got back into his car and drove on towards Zug. Just before 10:30 a.m., he drove a car right in front of the government building. Dressed in a self-made, police-like uniform (baseball cap with embroidered Zug coat of arms, dark reporter's vest with the white lettering "Police" stuck on the back), he marched into the government building. In the foyer of the cantonal council chamber, Leibacher saw two council members, one of whom he shot at 10:32:24 a.m. He then went into the room and fired 28 or 29 self-loading rifle shots within 14 seconds. Members of the press and councilors threw themselves on the floor or hid between the rows of desks and under the desks. A councilor lunged out of a window. After Leibacher had to reload his rifle, he fired another 30 cartridges. Then he detonated a plastic canister prepared as an explosive device, which exploded in the corridor on the right. One council member was seriously injured in the head as a result. While he had fired all the shots from the entrance of the hall so far, he fired his last 30 shots while walking, possibly looking for a council member. Presumably standing or possibly sitting on the window ledge, Leibacher shot himself at 10:34 am. The attack lasted a total of 2 minutes and 34 seconds.

At 10:33 a.m., the operations center of the Zug police was informed by a cantonal council who had not been in the room at the time of the attack. At almost the same time, an officer of the city police at the time happened to be driving a patrol car into Neugasse. At the traffic lights he heard four to five dull bangs; passers-by indicated that they were coming from the government building. He immediately drove with flashing lights into the lower post office, where he heard more shots. The first police officers from Zug arrived at 10:40 a.m. Two officers went to the cantonal council chamber, where they found Leibacher seriously injured. He was handcuffed. The Zug police found his car in front of the government building, where they found a loaded revolver, a shotgun cartridge and 29 copies of the leaflet “Day of Wrath for the Zug Mafia”.

Leaflet
Flyer created by Leibacher

consequences

As a result of this attack, the security measures in numerous local parliaments were tightened or even implemented in the first place and in some cases strict access controls for visitors and security cards for parliamentarians were introduced. This is one of the main reasons why the Parliament Building Security Section was formed at the federal level as part of the Federal Security Service , a police unit with around 35 people, which primarily secures the Federal Palace in Bern. As part of the introduction of general electronic access control for visitors, door controls with screening devices were set up and various sections of the Federal Palace were secured by security gates , which politicians can open with a badge .

In many cantons and municipalities, lists of people who have been noticed as so-called troublemakers have also been set up as a preventive measure . So people who bombard the authorities with objections and objections fail; believe they are being treated unfairly and sometimes threaten members of the authorities. Since then, these have been monitored more closely. Mediation offices have also been set up in some cases . Since then, police departments have been reacting far more sensitively to reports of such threats and temporarily arresting threatening persons, with weapons often being confiscated during subsequent house searches .

Director Sascha Weibel and film editor Felix Karrer began planning a film shortly after the attack. The research was financed with 40,000 francs from Swiss television and the Federal Office of Culture (BAK). The Zug government opposed the film project, which is why Swiss television withdrew from the project and it was not implemented.

Fatalities

  • Peter Bossard (councilor / governor, FDP, Zug)
  • Monika Hutter-Häfliger (Government Councilor , SP, Baar)
  • Jean-Paul Flachsmann (Government Councilor , SVP, Zug)
  • Herbert Arnet (President of the Cantonal Council, CVP, Cham)
  • Martin Döbeli (Cantonal Council, FDP, Zug)
  • Dorly Heimgartner (Cantonal Councilor, FDP, Zug)
  • Kurt Nussbaumer (Cantonal Council, FDP, Oberägeri)
  • Rolf Nussbaumer (Cantonal Councilor, CVP, Baar)
  • Konrad Häusler (Cantonal Councilor, CVP, Unterägeri)
  • Erich Iten (Cantonal Council, FDP, Unterägeri)
  • Karl Gretener (Cantonal Councilor, CVP, Cham)
  • Willi Wismer (Cantonal Councilor, CVP, Risch)
  • Heinz Grüter (Cantonal Council, FDP, Baar)
  • Käthi Langenegger (Cantonal Councilor, CVP, Baar)

The assassin

The assassin Friedrich "Fritz" Heinz Leibacher was born in Zug on July 21, 1944 and was a commercial employee. Leibacher was a Swiss citizen . He entered into three marriages with women from the Dominican Republic , all of which failed. He was violent against at least one of the wives. He had three children from these marriages. In 1970 he was sentenced to 18 months in prison by the criminal court in Zug for various property offenses , fornication with children, public indecent acts, forgery of documents and road traffic violations, but instead sent to a labor education institution.

He could never find his way around in working life and was registered as unemployed in various cantons; eventually he was drawing a disability pension . He had previously been diagnosed with a personality disorder , alcoholism and brain weakness. Leibacher continuously complained to the authorities for reasons that have not yet been published. According to the final report, a psychiatric report was drawn up about Leibacher in 1996, according to which he is said to have personality disorders; the reason for the report is not given. He then acquired several weapons and began shooting training in a club.

After two years, an incident on record took place: in 1998, after a dispute with a bus driver from Zugerland Verkehrsbetriebe , he was reported to have threatened him with a weapon. Leibacher sent his daughter to boarding school in Australia, and the prosecutor filed a lawsuit against Leibacher in court two and a half years after the incident. Then the attack in Zug took place.

See also

Documentation

Video contributions (chronological)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Thomas Knellwolf: The canton of Zug prevents a film about Leibacher running amok. In: Tages-Anzeiger . August 13, 2011, accessed August 13, 2011.
  2. ↑ List of victims
  3. ↑ a b c final examining magistrate's report. ( Memento of October 6, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) 2003, p. 21 f.