Major Denis Yevsyukov, head of police of Tsaritsyno district, first shot dead the driver of a car he was travelling in and then entered a shop where he unleashed a barrage of gun fire on those inside.

Maj Yevsyukov 'fatally shot the driver of the Chevrolet Lanos he was being driven in,' a spokesman for the Russian prosecutor's investigative committee, Vladimir Markin, told RIA Novosti.

'The police head then entered the Ostrov supermarket... and continued firing. As a result a female cashier and a man were killed. Another six people received gunshot wounds of varying degrees. The shooter was detained,' he said.

A major investigation was under way, with initial reports suggesting the district police head was of unsound mind and had family problems.

Other reports however noted a history of management problems in the southern Moscow area concerned, which led to a number of resignations of its leadership in the last week.

The Makarov pistol used in the shooting was also a focus of attention as it was not the policeman's service weapon but had been sought in a criminal investigation in the Rostov region of southern Russia. -- AFP