Five people and a suspected shooter are dead in a firearms incident in Plymouth, southwest England, on Thursday evening.
UK ambulance, file photo. Emergency services were called to a "serious and tragic" incident in Plymouth, southwest England. Photo: AFP / David Cliff / NurPhoto
Devon & Cornwall Police said they were called to the Keyham area of the city at 6.10pm.
Emergency services were deployed at the scene, with a local lawmaker describing the incident as "serious and tragic" but not "terror related".
South Western Ambulance Service said on Twitter: "We responded to the incident with a significant number of resources, including Hazardous Area Response Teams (HART), multiple ambulances, air ambulances, multiple doctors and senior paramedics."
Sharron Turner, 57, who lives behind the scene of the shooting, told The Times newspaper that a gunman had "kicked in" the front door of a semi-detached house before shooting a young mother and her daughter, who was aged about five. Turner said she had been told that the man, who was dressed in black and grey, was armed with a semi-automatic weapon.
After the attack the gunman escaped through a park behind the house and shot two dog walkers, The Times reported.
Local lawmaker Johnny Mercer said on Twitter that the incident was "not terror related".
"The incident in Plymouth is shocking and my thoughts are with those affected," Home Secretary Priti Patel said on Twitter.
The United Kingdom has one of the lowest gun homicide rates in the world, and mass shootings are rare.
- Reuters