Police have launched a manhunt after a shooter killed two people and wounded a third in the Swiss Alpine town of Sion. A 36-year-old man fired several shots in two parts of the town on Monday, police said. Initial research suggested he knew his victims but investigators were still working on establishing his motive, police added. Officers cordoned off the scene and set up a checkpoint, stopping and searching cars on the main road out of the surrounding southwestern canton of Valais. The man was "dangerous" and the public should not approach or confront him, police said. Regional newspaper Le Nouvelliste, which did not name sources, reported that shots were fired at a paint company's premises and at another location. Switzerland has a high rate of gun ownership. The Swiss-based Small Arms Survey research group estimates that in a country of about nine million people, civilians own about 2.3 million firearms. with AP Australian Associated Press