LUCERNE - A gunman killed a Swiss bank employee and took two hostages yesterday but was overpowered by police as he tried to make off with a ransom payment, police said.
The armed man entered Regio Bank in Lucerne in central Switzerland in the early morning and shot one member of staff; wounding him so badly he later died of his wounds, a police spokesman said.
The 49 year old gunman, a local resident with a police record, then holed up in an upstairs office with two hostages - a man and a woman who both worked at the bank - and demanded a million Swiss francs (about £460,800) ransom.
Security forces cordoned off the bank building and positioned snipers on neighbouring rooftops as police spoke with the gunman by internal telephone line, via the hostages.
"He wanted to leave the house with the hostages," a spokesman said. "The money was prepared, but not a million. It was less," he added.
After sending the woman out to collect the money, the gunman demanded a getaway car in what police suspected was a move to distract their attention. He then tried to leave the building with the male hostage.
Police closed in and overpowered the man without having to fire a shot, the spokesman said.