A 31-year-old army colonel from Valhalla in Pretoria shot himself after killing his wife at their home, police said on Monday.

Captain Colette Weilbach said the colonel, who was the duty officer in the guardroom at a military base in Centurion, went to his home in Swol Street in Valhalla on Sunday night, and shot his wife three times through a window, using an army-issued R5 assault rifle.

"He then went back to the base and hid in some bushes," said Weilbach.

"The military police went to look for him and he took a number of shots at them before the SAPS (SA Police Service) and a police helicopter arrived," said Weilbach.

"After a while they heard another shot and they found that he had killed himself."

Weilbach did not want to release the colonel or his wife's names, as their family had not been contacted yet.

"She (the wife) also worked for the military, but I don't know where and which rank she had," said Weilbach.

One of the couple's three children, a 16-year-old boy, was at home at the time of the shooting.

Colonel Petrus Mothlabane, spokesman of the SA National Defence Force, said they were still investigating the incident.

"We will release a statement as soon as we have all the facts," he said.

The police were investigating cases of murder and suicide.