Six people have died and others wounded following a shooting in southwest Germany, police said on Friday.

The number of deaths was confirmed by local police. A suspect has been arrested, police added, saying there were no indications of any further suspects.

The shooting occurred in the town of Rot am See in the federal state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, while police in the nearby town of Aalen said the incident appeared to be linked to a "personal relationship".

"Police are working on the basis that the perpetrator knew the victims and that some were direct relatives," said Al Jazeera's Dominic Kane, reporting from Berlin.

"It is believed the perpetrator is in his mid-30s and does not have a migration background. The town of Rot am See has a population of around 5,000 and, according to residents, the street where the shooting took place is normally a very quiet residential street."

A "major police deployment" was under way in the town approximately 100 kilometres (62 miles) west of Nuremberg, police tweeted.

⚠️POLIZEIEINSATZ⚠️

Die Polizei und die Rettungdienste sind derzeit mit starken Kräften in #RotAmSee im Einsatz. pic.twitter.com/j6Fb0fHH15 — Polizei Aalen (@PolizeiAalen) January 24, 2020

Mass shootings are a comparatively rare occurrence in Germany, although in October a far-right attacker shot and killed two people in the eastern city of Halle after trying to get into a packed synagogue with home-made weapons.

In July 2016, a teenager used a pistol bought illegally online to kill nine people in a shooting spree at a Munich shopping centre, before turning the weapon on himself.