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A gunman has killed up to six members of his family including his parents in a German town centre after opening fire at a restaurant.

The man fired at his relatives with a semi-automatic handgun in the south western German town of Rot am See just after 12.30pm local time, police said.

The man, aged 26, was captured after calling police himself following the horror. A police statement revealed he made an emergency call to the command and control center of the Aalen police headquarters and said he had just shot several people.

He waited outside the Deutscher Kaiser inn, a sports pub reportedly run by his father and which is close to the train station, while police remained on the line until officers from the Crailsheim police station arrived at the scene at 1257pm.

It was initially reported that the shooter was aged 37. He has a gun licence.

Have you been affected by the incident in Rot am See? Email webnews@trinitymirror.com

(Image: REUTERS)

Police in Germany have held a press conference at 5pm local time, in which they confirmed that two people died in a restaurant, and four died outside of the building after emergency services arrived.

It is reported that the six dead are three women - his 56-year-old mum and other female relatives aged 36 and 62 and three men - his 65-year-old dad and other male relatives aged 36 and 69.

It was revealed that the shooter called police himself at 12.48pm, shortly after the killings.

(Image: REUTERS)

The shooter's mum is reported to have lived separately from the rest of the family.

Some of the victim's come from the Offenburg area, around two and a half hours' drive from Rot am See.

The shooter also threatened two child relatives of his - aged 12 and 14.

A man and a woman were also seriously injured by gunfire, with one fighting for life.

Police are investigating the relationship between the gunman and these two victims.

All of the victims are German citizens.

The shooting may have been sparked by a family dispute.

There were bodies lying inside and out the back of the building when police arrived.

(Image: REUTERS)

A police statement said the gunman had no criminal record. He had a licensed semi-automatic pistol, 9 mm.

Around 100 officers responded to the incident shortly before 12.50pm, including around 30 emergency services personnel.

"According to my information, there were six dead and several injured," police spokesman Rudolf Biehlmaier told German broadcaster n-tv shortly after the attack this afternoon.

"We are working on the assumption that this was a single attacker," he said.

Police suggested at the time that the shooting was linked to a "personal relationship" and that there were no other suspects at this point.

They have ruled out the possibility of the killings being a terrorist attack.

The investigation is ongoing.

Rot am See has a population of around 5,400 and lies 530km south west of the German capital Berlin.