Swiss police investigating the deaths of two elderly people at a hospital in the canton of Zurich, believe they were killed in a murder-suicide.

According to a police statement, staff at the Affoltern am Albis hospital heard gunshots coming from one of the rooms in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Upon investigating, nursing staff discovered an 83-year-old patient in bed with a gunshot wound.

The woman's husband, also 83, was lying on the floor beside her, also suffering from a gunshot wound.

Samurai sword bloodbath: 3 people butchered at religious shrine in Tokyo https://t.co/v5giAXpACKpic.twitter.com/vofJcJWBJB — RT (@RT_com) December 8, 2017

Police say they assume the man shot his wife and then turned the gun on himself, though no motive has yet been established for the killings.