By . Peter Allen . PUBLISHED: . 23:03 EST, 2 January 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 16:00 EST, 3 January 2013 . A gunman thought to have murdered three women in a rampage through an Alpine village is to be questioned about a similar massacre on a British family last year, it emerged today. Police in Switzerland are waiting to interview the 33-year-old psychiatric patient, named locally by his first name Cedric, thought to be responsible for last night's carnage in Daillon, in the Valais canton, 60 miles east of Geneva. The man, who has a history of threatening people with guns, is in a 'stable condition' in intensive care after being shot in the chest by a tactical police firearms unit last night. Scroll down for video . Echoes of last time: Three members of a British family and a French cyclist were shot dead in an Alpine beauty spot (pictured) last year, less than 100 miles from the site of the latest attack . Problems: Police had previously confiscated weapons from the gunman when he was put in a psychiatric ward . Bloodbath: Swiss police begin their investigation in Daillon today, after three people were shot dead and two injured in the village last night . Shocking violence: Police in the remote village this morning, after they were called to the scene yesterday at 9pm following reports of people lying shot in the street . Swiss general prosecutor Catherine Sappey said today: ''The man was known for having issued threats. Had they not stopped him he would have killed more people.' At around 8.30pm, the alleged killer, who is believed to have been thrown out of the Swiss Army for making threats with guns, stormed out of the Channe D'Or (Gold Pitcher) restaurant in Daillon following a heavy drinking session, and picked up two rifles from his nearby flat. He is then said to have used the weapons - a hunting gun and an antique military carbine used by the French Army in the world wars - to kill and maim those around him. Witnesses said he fired indiscriminately, first from his flat before turning his guns on a nearby lane and a multi-storey car park. His principal targets were apparently three women aged 32, 54 and 79 - all of whom he knew - while two men aged 33 and 63 were badly wounded. One, a retired police chief, is thought to be the suspected killer's uncle. The survivors were tonight 'critical but stable' after being airlifted to hospital in nearby Sion, the capital of Valais. Picking up the pieces: Forensics officers in the village, where the unnamed 33-year-old fired up to 20 shots at neighbours and the police . Tragedy: The gunman is a local resident known as a drug addict and former mental patient . The youngest victims of the 45-minute rampage, the 32-year-old woman and 33-year-old man, were a married couple with young children. The attack had disturbing similarities to the one in which four people including a British couple were shot dead by a mystery gunman in September, less than 100 miles away. British engineer Saad al-Hilli, 50, his wife Iqbal, 47, and mother-in-law Suhaila al-Allaf, 74, were killed alongside 45-year-old French cyclist Sylvain Mollier in an Alpine beauty spot close to the French village of Chevaline, by Lake Annecy. Police are largely baffled about what happened in the French attack, although they fear that the assailant might have been a crazed psychiatric patient with a history of threatening people with guns. Terrifying: Part of the pretty village is cordoned off after the killer was arrested and placed in custody . Gun collection: Swiss general prosecutor Catherine Sappey said 'at least two weapons were used' including a hunting rifle and an antique military carbine dating back to before World War Two . The Chevaline attacker is also thought . to have used an antique weapon, possibly an ex-military Luger handgun, . parts of which were found at the scene. As in Chevaline, those who died in . Daillon received clinical shots to the head and chest, while those . wounded received shots to the shoulder and pelvis. Zainab al-Hilli, the seven-year-old . who survived the Chevaline shootings along with her four-year-old sister . Zaina, suffered a shoulder wound. French prosecutor Eric Maillaud said . at the end of last year that a deranged gun enthusiast was high on his . list of possible suspects, explaining: 'We are looking for unbalanced . people - capable of extreme violence. People who have access to weapons - . hunters, collectors, shooting club members - some of whom could have . had psychiatric problems.' Senseless violence: A crowd forms at the scene where the brutal attack took place. An elderly couple thought to be related to the gunman are among the dead . Saddened: Jean-Pierre Gross, left, chief prosecutor of Valais County, speaks beside Robert Steiner, chief of police ad interim, at a news conference in Daillon today . Both French and Swiss police today . confirmed that the Daillon killer would be questioned about the . Chevaline atrocity, with a spokesman for the Valois force adding: 'Our . inquiry will investigate every element of the attack, including possible . links with nearby crimes.' Despite having psychiatric and drug . problems and no weapons licence, the Swiss attacker spent a number of . days in protective custody in 2005 for threatening people with guns, . which were later confiscated. He is said to have fired at least 20 shots in . Daillon, a picturesque village surrounded by vineyards, some at the . police who had come to arrest him. Local resident Marie-Paule Udry said . the unemployed man 'had drunk a lot' before the attack. He lived on his . own but under the surveillance of the local authorities, and received a . disability allowance. She said: 'We heard shots outside, dimmed the lights and hit the floor.' The Killer, named locally as Cedric, is said to have been kicked out of the Swiss Army for threatening people with guns, it has emerged. He is said to be the son of divorced parents and left home when he was 18. He spent a short spell in the military but was considered a danger and placed under psychiatric care in 2005. Cedric was described by one local as a ‘gun lover with an obsession with the army’. ‘Everyone knows him. He has no car so you often see him wandering around on foot,’ added the source. ‘He left home at 18 after his parents split up and has struggled ever since. ‘His dream in the army was to become an instructor, but he was soon thrown out. He became a waster - spending all his time smoking cannabis and playing video games.’ The source said Cedric had been in dispute with his ex-police chief uncle, who was one of his victims. A former classmate of Cedric described him as a mixture of ‘Rambo and boy scout’, saying that he once had a big collection of guns and knives which he kept at home. A Swiss police spokesman last night confirmed that the killer was now ‘stable’ and - despite his injuries - would ‘soon be in a position to speak’. Josette Dessimoz, who runs the Restaurant Alpes in Daillon, said: 'My sister-in-law heard shooting and went out on the street and was herself shot.' Weapons possession is extremely high in Switzerland, where soldiers are allowed to take guns home . Striking similarities: Police had been looking for a mentally unstable gunman living in the area in relation to the French Alps massacre of last year . Rules: Part-time soldiers in Switzerland can keep guns at home, as long as they are not fully automatic and ammo is restricted . Police arrived in Daillon after receiving reports of people lying in the streets following a spate of gunfire. They wounded the gunman after . initially finding it difficult to locate him in the dark, and he was . arrested and placed in custody by a special tactical team. Police spokesman Jean-Marie . Bornet said: 'At the moment there is incomprehension and shock here in . Valais. The toll is very, very heavy. It's a sombre start to the year . for the canton. 'It wasn't easy to . intervene in the darkness. The gunman turned his weapon on the officers, . who had to shoot him in order not to be injured themselves.' Arrested: The gunman was wounded after officers struggled to find him in the dark . Not the first time: The attack took place less than 100 miles from the French village where five people were shot dead by a mystery gunman last year . Armed and dangerous: Up to three million guns are in circulation in the nation of eight million . Nathalie Frizzi was walking her dogs when she heard gunfire, saying: 'There were people running around near the chapel. 'At first I didn't realise what was . going on. I thought children were shooting at cats and I called out for . them to stop. I am still shocked at the thought that I could have been . hit by a bullet.' Local authority chief Christophe Germanier said: 'The day was sunny here but the night black. What a terrible start to 2013.' Daillon has a population of just 400 people. The alleged killer moved there a number of years ago from the nearby town of Conthey. Gun ownership is widespread in Switzerland, with around a quarter of the eight million population carrying weapons. Army-issue weapons are used in the deaths of more than 300 people in Switzerland every year. A judicial investigation has been opened into the latest killings in Daillon, although none of the victims have yet been named. On guard: Army-issue weapons are used in the deaths of more than 300 people in Switzerland every year . Cordon: A policeman controls traffic on the road into Daillon following the shooting . Rife: Most Swiss towns and villages have a shooting club that meets for target practice at least once a week . Swiss police close off the road to the village in the wake of the shooting, which is believed to have been carried out by a drunk man with an assault rifle . Lockdown: The village of Daillon was closed to the press following a shooting . Statement: Police say they will release more information about the horrifying events later today .
The killer wielded three weapons as he fired indiscriminately in the street .
Reports say 'drunk' man was wounded in police shootout and arrested .
He murdered three people and injured several more before he was stopped .
All were reportedly known to the gunman, with one thought to be his uncle .
Two of the victims were married and the parents of young children .
The massacre has striking similarities to Alps attack on British family .
By . Peter Allen . PUBLISHED: . 23:03 EST, 2 January 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 16:00 EST, 3 January 2013 . A gunman thought to have murdered three women in a rampage through an Alpine village is to be questioned about a similar massacre on a British family last year, it emerged today. Police in Switzerland are waiting to interview the 33-year-old psychiatric patient, named locally by his first name Cedric, thought to be responsible for last night's carnage in Daillon, in the Valais canton, 60 miles east of Geneva. The man, who has a history of threatening people with guns, is in a 'stable condition' in intensive care after being shot in the chest by a tactical police firearms unit last night. Scroll down for video . Echoes of last time: Three members of a British family and a French cyclist were shot dead in an Alpine beauty spot (pictured) last year, less than 100 miles from the site of the latest attack . Problems: Police had previously confiscated weapons from the gunman when he was put in a psychiatric ward . Bloodbath: Swiss police begin their investigation in Daillon today, after three people were shot dead and two injured in the village last night . Shocking violence: Police in the remote village this morning, after they were called to the scene yesterday at 9pm following reports of people lying shot in the street . Swiss general prosecutor Catherine Sappey said today: ''The man was known for having issued threats. Had they not stopped him he would have killed more people.' At around 8.30pm, the alleged killer, who is believed to have been thrown out of the Swiss Army for making threats with guns, stormed out of the Channe D'Or (Gold Pitcher) restaurant in Daillon following a heavy drinking session, and picked up two rifles from his nearby flat. He is then said to have used the weapons - a hunting gun and an antique military carbine used by the French Army in the world wars - to kill and maim those around him. Witnesses said he fired indiscriminately, first from his flat before turning his guns on a nearby lane and a multi-storey car park. His principal targets were apparently three women aged 32, 54 and 79 - all of whom he knew - while two men aged 33 and 63 were badly wounded. One, a retired police chief, is thought to be the suspected killer's uncle. The survivors were tonight 'critical but stable' after being airlifted to hospital in nearby Sion, the capital of Valais. Picking up the pieces: Forensics officers in the village, where the unnamed 33-year-old fired up to 20 shots at neighbours and the police . Tragedy: The gunman is a local resident known as a drug addict and former mental patient . The youngest victims of the 45-minute rampage, the 32-year-old woman and 33-year-old man, were a married couple with young children. The attack had disturbing similarities to the one in which four people including a British couple were shot dead by a mystery gunman in September, less than 100 miles away. British engineer Saad al-Hilli, 50, his wife Iqbal, 47, and mother-in-law Suhaila al-Allaf, 74, were killed alongside 45-year-old French cyclist Sylvain Mollier in an Alpine beauty spot close to the French village of Chevaline, by Lake Annecy. Police are largely baffled about what happened in the French attack, although they fear that the assailant might have been a crazed psychiatric patient with a history of threatening people with guns. Terrifying: Part of the pretty village is cordoned off after the killer was arrested and placed in custody . Gun collection: Swiss general prosecutor Catherine Sappey said 'at least two weapons were used' including a hunting rifle and an antique military carbine dating back to before World War Two . The Chevaline attacker is also thought . to have used an antique weapon, possibly an ex-military Luger handgun, . parts of which were found at the scene. As in Chevaline, those who died in . Daillon received clinical shots to the head and chest, while those . wounded received shots to the shoulder and pelvis. Zainab al-Hilli, the seven-year-old . who survived the Chevaline shootings along with her four-year-old sister . Zaina, suffered a shoulder wound. French prosecutor Eric Maillaud said . at the end of last year that a deranged gun enthusiast was high on his . list of possible suspects, explaining: 'We are looking for unbalanced . people - capable of extreme violence. People who have access to weapons - . hunters, collectors, shooting club members - some of whom could have . had psychiatric problems.' Senseless violence: A crowd forms at the scene where the brutal attack took place. An elderly couple thought to be related to the gunman are among the dead . Saddened: Jean-Pierre Gross, left, chief prosecutor of Valais County, speaks beside Robert Steiner, chief of police ad interim, at a news conference in Daillon today . Both French and Swiss police today . confirmed that the Daillon killer would be questioned about the . Chevaline atrocity, with a spokesman for the Valois force adding: 'Our . inquiry will investigate every element of the attack, including possible . links with nearby crimes.' Despite having psychiatric and drug . problems and no weapons licence, the Swiss attacker spent a number of . days in protective custody in 2005 for threatening people with guns, . which were later confiscated. He is said to have fired at least 20 shots in . Daillon, a picturesque village surrounded by vineyards, some at the . police who had come to arrest him. Local resident Marie-Paule Udry said . the unemployed man 'had drunk a lot' before the attack. He lived on his . own but under the surveillance of the local authorities, and received a . disability allowance. She said: 'We heard shots outside, dimmed the lights and hit the floor.' The Killer, named locally as Cedric, is said to have been kicked out of the Swiss Army for threatening people with guns, it has emerged. He is said to be the son of divorced parents and left home when he was 18. He spent a short spell in the military but was considered a danger and placed under psychiatric care in 2005. Cedric was described by one local as a ‘gun lover with an obsession with the army’. ‘Everyone knows him. He has no car so you often see him wandering around on foot,’ added the source. ‘He left home at 18 after his parents split up and has struggled ever since. ‘His dream in the army was to become an instructor, but he was soon thrown out. He became a waster - spending all his time smoking cannabis and playing video games.’ The source said Cedric had been in dispute with his ex-police chief uncle, who was one of his victims. A former classmate of Cedric described him as a mixture of ‘Rambo and boy scout’, saying that he once had a big collection of guns and knives which he kept at home. A Swiss police spokesman last night confirmed that the killer was now ‘stable’ and - despite his injuries - would ‘soon be in a position to speak’. Josette Dessimoz, who runs the Restaurant Alpes in Daillon, said: 'My sister-in-law heard shooting and went out on the street and was herself shot.' Weapons possession is extremely high in Switzerland, where soldiers are allowed to take guns home . Striking similarities: Police had been looking for a mentally unstable gunman living in the area in relation to the French Alps massacre of last year . Rules: Part-time soldiers in Switzerland can keep guns at home, as long as they are not fully automatic and ammo is restricted . Police arrived in Daillon after receiving reports of people lying in the streets following a spate of gunfire. They wounded the gunman after . initially finding it difficult to locate him in the dark, and he was . arrested and placed in custody by a special tactical team. Police spokesman Jean-Marie . Bornet said: 'At the moment there is incomprehension and shock here in . Valais. The toll is very, very heavy. It's a sombre start to the year . for the canton. 'It wasn't easy to . intervene in the darkness. The gunman turned his weapon on the officers, . who had to shoot him in order not to be injured themselves.' Arrested: The gunman was wounded after officers struggled to find him in the dark . Not the first time: The attack took place less than 100 miles from the French village where five people were shot dead by a mystery gunman last year . Armed and dangerous: Up to three million guns are in circulation in the nation of eight million . Nathalie Frizzi was walking her dogs when she heard gunfire, saying: 'There were people running around near the chapel. 'At first I didn't realise what was . going on. I thought children were shooting at cats and I called out for . them to stop. I am still shocked at the thought that I could have been . hit by a bullet.' Local authority chief Christophe Germanier said: 'The day was sunny here but the night black. What a terrible start to 2013.' Daillon has a population of just 400 people. The alleged killer moved there a number of years ago from the nearby town of Conthey. Gun ownership is widespread in Switzerland, with around a quarter of the eight million population carrying weapons. Army-issue weapons are used in the deaths of more than 300 people in Switzerland every year. A judicial investigation has been opened into the latest killings in Daillon, although none of the victims have yet been named. On guard: Army-issue weapons are used in the deaths of more than 300 people in Switzerland every year . Cordon: A policeman controls traffic on the road into Daillon following the shooting . Rife: Most Swiss towns and villages have a shooting club that meets for target practice at least once a week . Swiss police close off the road to the village in the wake of the shooting, which is believed to have been carried out by a drunk man with an assault rifle . Lockdown: The village of Daillon was closed to the press following a shooting . Statement: Police say they will release more information about the horrifying events later today .
massacre on a British family last year, it in Daillon today, after three people were shot lying shot in the street . Swiss general neighbours and the police . Tragedy: The gunman 33-year-old man, were a married couple with young children. The attack had disturbing similarities couple thought to be related to the gunman are drunk a lot' before the attack. He lived on his . uncle, who was one of his victims. A former the dark, and he was . arrested and placed in themselves.' Arrested: The gunman was wounded Army-issue weapons are used in the deaths of more