GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Seven people, including two children, have been killed in two houses in Grand Rapids in a deadly shooting spree this afternoon, and the suspect is holding two hostages tonight and threatening to kill one of them, according to a report by MLive.com.

Grand Rapids Police Chief Kevin Belk told the Grand Rapids Press that three people are reported dead on Plainfield Avenue NE, including a 10-year-old girl.

Four other people are reported dead on Brynell Court — three adults and one child, the newspaper is reporting. There is a connection between the shootings, but Belk would not elaborate at this time.

• UPDATE: Gunman releases hostages, shoots himself / Latest coverage on MLive.com

After opening fire in two separate homes, the suspected gunman — identified as 34-year-old Rodrick Dantzler — fled in a tan Lincoln Town Car and led police on a high-speed chase through downtown Grand Rapids, authorities said.

Within hours, dozens of officers with guns drawn had cordoned off a neighborhood in the northern part of the city, along Interstate 96 near a small lake. Police believed they had the man surrounded but warned residents to stay in their homes.

The manhunt began after four people were found dead in one Grand Rapids home and three were found in another across town. Mayor George Heartwell said police were seeking Dantzler.

"It's an awful situation," Heartwell told the Associated Press earlier this evening when the gunman remained at large. The mayor did not know any motive or Dantzler's relationship to any of the victims.

Witnesses told WOOD-TV that shots were fired from the vehicle during the chase and may have struck a bystander.

Sandra Powney, who lives across the street from one of the homes where the shootings occurred, said she had seen Dantzler at the ranch house where a couple had lived for more than 20 years with two adult daughters.

Powney said she had been at home all day and did not realize anyone had been killed until police converged on the cul-de-sac in the mid-afternoon.

"For a while we couldn't come outside," she said. "They didn't know if there was someone still inside the house."

State Corrections spokesman Russ Marlan said records show Dantzler was discharged from the prison system in 2005 after serving time for assault less than murder. He has not been under state supervision since then, Marlan said.

As of 11 p.m., Dantzler was allegedly holding two people hostage inside an apartment, and he threatened to kill one of them, according to MLive.com. The gunman also threatened to kill himself.

Shots were heard inside the apartment when the suspect first arrived, MLive reported.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

More coverage of the Grand Rapids shooting spree

• Dramatic photos from the shooting scenes (gallery)

• Authorities say suspect enters apartment, shots fired, hostage taken

• Live coverage: Police report 7 dead in Northeast Grand Rapids