Two people have been killed and a third injured in a shooting in a southern Swiss town, police have said.

Police in the Valais canton said the suspect fired several shots in two different locations in Sion, a town of about 35,000 people not far from the Italian and French borders.

The force said they had deployed officers to arrest the male gunman, who has not been identified.

It said he appears to have known his victims, but did not give further details.

Local prosecutors have opened a murder investigation.

Switzerland, a country of around nine million people, has a high level of gun ownership.

Swiss Arms Survey, a Switzerland-based organisation that monitors global trends in armed violence, estimates civilians in the country possess 2.3 million firearms.

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