Police arrest gunman after US shooting spree

A gunman killed one person and wounded five others in a shooting spree in Arizona, sparking an hours-long manhunt by SWAT teams before he was caught, police said.

One of the injured was in critical condition after the shooting yesterday in Mesa, a suburb of Phoenix, said local police spokesman Esteban Flores.

The shooter "surrendered after being tazed," said Flores, who listed at least four locations where the gunman had opened fire, before fleeing in a carjacked vehicle and being tracked down to a nearby apartment complex.

"We believe he is responsible for each and every one of these shootings," he told a briefing some five hours after the incident.

SWAT teams had scrambled across the city to look for the shooter, described as a white man in his 40s with a neck tattoo. Local schools and colleges were placed on lockdown while police searched for the gunman.

Local 12 News TV channel described the tattoos as including white supremacist symbols.

TV pictures showed the suspect being led out in a white full-body suit, designed to protect DNA and other forensic evidence for investigators who will provide evidence for prosecution.

The incident began when three people were shot at a motel. One male victim died while two women were hospitalised. Another male was shot at a nearby bistro, where a car was stolen.

A short time later police received reports of an attempted burglary nearby with a male victim shot, and another separate shooting at an apartment complex. A victim there was listed in critical condition, Flores said.

"We don't know exactly what happened at the first shooting. We know there was some kind of argument," he said, adding: "We believe that he knew the first victims."

"The rest of them appeared to be carjackings or home invasions or some kinds of robberies," he said.