Eight people were killed yesterday when a disgruntled Education Ministry employee opened fire in a Beirut office.
Five others were wounded before police arrested the man, who was armed with two pistols and a Kalashnikov assault rifle.
Beirut police chief Mr Walid Koleilat said a financial dispute was behind the shooting, and dismissed any sectarian motives.
"It is tragic. It was personal and isolated. We hope that no one makes of this incident more than its isolated nature," he said.
But others questioned that, pointing out that the gunman was Muslim and most of his victims were Christians.
Ahmed Mansour first began firing in the air before turning his gun on people in the offices of the teachers' compensation fund, a department of the Education Ministry.
Mr Koleilat said Mansour, who had worked for the fund for 23 years, went through offices methodically, shooting as he walked.
Some of the victims ran on to a balcony to escape the shooting, but the man fired through the windows, killing two people whose bodies were left hanging on the railings.
One witness said that after the gunman ran out of bullets he dropped his weapons, walked down the stairs and lit a cigarette. At about the same time, police arrived and arrested him. Mr Koleilat said Mansour tried to hide among the crowd, and then later tried to make a run for it.
About 20 relatives of the victims later wept outside, and tried to break through police lines each time a body was carried out.
Among the dead was the woman who heads the fund, which deals with pay raises, bonuses, and loans.
- (AP)