BEIJING (AFP) - A man in northern China has shot dead four people, including two police officers, state media said on Tuesday, in a rare case of gun violence in the country.

Liu Shuangrui killed two "fellow villagers" and injured three others with a double-barrelled hunting gun on Monday night in Suning county in the northern province of Hebei, the state-run Xinhua news agency said.

He went on to kill two police officers who were trying to arrest him, it said, adding that Liu was trapped in his house and found dead early on Tuesday when the police entered it.

The local Yanzhao Metropolis Daily paper said Liu, 55, was shot dead by police. It added that his civilian victims were three adult men, one aged more than 70.

The brief reports gave no mention of a possible motive. Xinhua said Liu also injured five people, including two police officers.

Gun crimes are rare in China as firearm ownership is tightly controlled, but some farmers keep weapons to hunt animals considered pests such as wild boar.