Anti-Islamic intent not confirmed in 2016 Swiss mosque attack - prosecutors

ZURICH (Reuters) - Zurich prosecutors said on Wednesday they were ending a 10-month investigation into a December 2016 mosque shooting that left three worshippers seriously injured, and that they had failed to conclude anti-Islamic intent behind the attack. The attacker, a 24-year-old Swiss with roots in Ghana, killed himself after the shootings in the prayer chambers of an Islamic centre near the main train station in Switzerland's financial capital. The attack in Zurich was preceded by extremist violence in France, Germany and Belgium, putting European law enforcement authorities on alert not only for further attacks but also possible acts of retribution against Muslim-linked properties or people. But prosecutors in Switzerland have concluded that the man was a loner and suffered from personal problems. They could not determine that hatred against Muslims was among his motives. The Swiss perpetrator was also the culprit in a separate fatal stabbing two days before the mosque attack in which he killed an acquaintance in a suburban Zurich playground. (Reporting by John Miller; editing by Richard Balmforth)