An off-duty policeman shot and killed four people and wounded another in Shongweni near Hillcrest in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal police said on Sunday.

Superintendent Vincent Mdunge said the officer, in his forties, went to a house in Shongweni and called a person to come outside around 4.15pm on Saturday. The rest of the family became suspicious and also went outside.

The officer then pulled out his firearm and allegedly shot at the family — four men and a woman. Three people died on scene while a fourth person died in hospital on Sunday morning. A man was discharged from hospital in a stable condition on Sunday.

The police officer then fled the scene. He was being sought on four counts of murder and one count of attempted murder, said Mdunge.

The names of the deceased had not yet been released.

Sapa