A man stormed into a Zurich mosque on Monday evening and opened fire on people praying, injuring three, Swiss police said.

They said they had collected evidence inside the building and would make more details available on Tuesday. They declined to comment on the potential motive.

Two of the three men — aged 30, 35 and 56 — were seriously injured in the attack shortly after 5:30 p.m. local time (1630 GMT) near the main train station in Switzerland’s financial capital, Zurich police said.

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A third sustained less severe injuries. All three were brought to hospital.

The unidentified suspect, a man around 30 years old who according to witnesses was wearing dark clothing and a dark wool cap, fled the mosque, police said.

Police said a body was found nearby but would not comment on any link to the shootings while investigations continued.

WATCH: A gunman opened fire at a mosque in Zurich injuring at least three people Monday. Linda So reports.

People at the scene told Reuters the Islamic Center on Zurich’s Eisgasse was used as a mosque, often by Somalis.

“We never once had a problem,” said Abukar Abshirow, a Somali who said he was a regular worshipper at the center that attracted Muslims from around the world.

“We never had anyone come and say why are you here. We never had that,” Abshirow said. He said the three victims were Somalis.

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Two thirds of Switzerland’s 8.3 million residents identify as Christian but the nation has been wrestling with the role of Islam as its Muslim population has risen to 5 percent, swelled by the arrival of immigrants from the former Yugoslavia.

In 2009, a nationwide vote backed a constitutional ban on new minarets.

The Federation of Islamic Organisations in Switzerland said the center was not a member and it did not have any direct knowledge of the incident.</s>Police secure the area in front of the Islamic centre, in Zurich on Monday. A Zurich police official says a gunman has injured several people in Switzerland’s largest city.

Three people were wounded in a shooting near an Islamic centre in central Zurich on Monday, police said.

Swiss media said a suspect was on the run after the incident near the main train station in Switzerland's financial capital.

It was not immediately clear whether the Islamic centre or any of the other businesses registered buildings nearby, were the target of the attack, or what any motive might have been.

People at the scene told Reuters they prayed at the centre, which was used as a mosque, often by Somalis.

Zurich police confirmed people had been wounded in the incident on Zurich's Eisgasse, but gave no more details. A police official was expected to make a statement.

Police had sealed off the block. Roughly 20 police officers were present and an ambulance had driven away, a Reuters witness said. There was no word on the condition of the wounded.

The centre is registered as an association enabling Muslims to practise their religion, particularly through instruction on Islamic beliefs and teachings, as well as providing for the preservation of Islamic cultural values and scientific seminars, according to Swiss business data website Moneyhouse.

Across Switzerland, two thirds of its 8.3 million residents identify as Christian but the nation has been wrestling with the role of Islam as its Muslim population has risen to 5 per cent, particularly with the arrival of immigrants from the former Yugoslavia.

In 2009, a nationwide vote backed a constitutional ban on new minarets.

The Federation of Islamic Organisations in Switzerland said the centre was not a member and it did not have any direct knowledge of the incident.</s>Three people were hurt in a shooting near an Islamic centre in central Zurich on Monday, according to local media reports.

Zurich police confirmed some people had been hurt in the vicinity of the Islamic centre on Zurich’s Eisgasse, but gave no more details.

The 20 Minuten newspaper said a suspect was on the run after the incident near the main train station in Switzerland’s financial capital.

Police were seen standing near the entrance of the building, where an Islamic centre and several businesses are registered.

It was not immediately clear whether the Islamic centre or any of the other businesses were the target of the attack.

Three police vehicles and one ambulance were at the scene shortly before 7pm (5.50pm GMT), while one ambulance had just driven away, a Reuters witness said.

Across Switzerland, two-thirds of its 8.3 million residents identify as Christians.

However, the nation has been wrestling with the role of Islam, as its Muslim population has risen to 5 per cent with the arrival of immigrants from former Yugoslavia.

In 2009, a nationwide vote backed a constitutional ban on new minarets.</s>Three people were shot and injured in an "ongoing situation" near an Islamic center in Zurich, Switzerland, according to police.

There were no details on the extent of the injuries, Zurich police said.</s>A gunman who shot three worshippers in a Zurich mosque on Monday evening was a 24-year-old Swiss man with Ghanaian roots and no apparent links to Islamist radicalism, police said on Tuesday.

The suspect, whom they did not identify by name, is thought to have killed another man in Zurich on Sunday. He seems to have taken his own life shortly after the mosque shooting, whose motivation remains a mystery, police officials said.

“He is Swiss and we don’t know anything about the motives,” Christiane Lentjes Meili, head of criminal investigations for the Zurich cantonal police, told a news conference.

The gunman, from the nearby town of Uster, had stormed into the Islamic centre near the main train station in Switzerland’s financial capital and opened fire on people praying, wounding three men, whose condition was said to be improving on Tuesday.

His body was found soon afterwards about 300 metres away. He appears to have shot himself, police said.

Investigators were still puzzling over what set off the deadly chain of events. The man – whose last run-in with the law was as a bike thief seven years ago – had quit his job in a shop on Friday.

There were indications that the man had taken an interest in occult sciences, Lentjes Meili said, adding it was not clear at this stage whether he was mentally ill.

Two days later he is suspected of killing a man with South American roots he seems to have been acquainted with and leaving the body in a playground in Zurich.

The mayhem continued when he entered the mosque after dusk on Monday, armed with a gun for which he had a permit.

“We are still waiting to see if that person was targeting us or if it was a coincidence that brought him to us. Everything is open,” Saad Subaan from the Zurich Islamic Community Foundation told reporters after the media conference.

The victims are aged 30, 35 and 56. Two of them were seriously injured in the attack, a rare case of gun violence in Switzerland, while a third sustained less severe injuries.

“All Muslims are of course shocked that people praying came under fire,” Onder Gunes, spokesman for the Federation of Islamic Organisations in Switzerland, said before the shooter’s background became known.
Three people are shot by a gunman at an Islamic centre near the Zürich Hauptbahnhof train station. A manhunt was conducted for the assailant, a 24-year-old Swiss citizen of Ghanian descent, whose body was found close to the Islamic centre.