German hunt for gunman who killed two in Espelkamp

One victim was shot dead outside these homes in Espelkamp

German police are searching for a gunman who shot and killed a man and a woman in Espelkamp, a small northern town near the city of Bielefeld.

Police have not hinted at any motive for the shooting, but they say there is no threat to the public.

One victim was killed in a terraced house and the other in a nearby street, about 100m (328ft) away. The town has about 25,000 inhabitants.

The suspected gunman is aged 52, from nearby Diepenau, DPA news agency says.

Police quoted by DPA said the man who died was aged 48. The woman was fatally wounded and could not be revived with first aid, they said, giving no further details about the victims. Diepenau is about 10km (six miles) from the crime scene.

The popular German tabloid Bild, quoting unnamed sources, says police are now negotiating with the gunman to get him to surrender.

Extra police have joined the manhunt from the North Rhine-Westphalia region.

A spokeswoman for Bielefeld police said it was not a random shooting spree and that the force was treating the case as homicide.