Germany’s interior minister has said the gunman who murdered 10 people in the town of Hanau had a xenophobic motive.

The 43-year-old suspect was found dead in his flat alongside the remains of his 72-year-old mother who had also suffered gunshot wounds.

Interior Minister Peter Beuth said the gunman owned weapons legally and was a sports marksman.

He said the gunman ran a website which appears to “indicate a xenophobic motivation.”

The attack is now being treated as an act of domestic terrorism.

Reports in German suggest police are now examining a note and video made by the suspect before the attack.

At least nine people were killed and five people were injured in the shootings at two shisha bars in the town, situated to the east of Frankfurt.

It is believed some of the victims were of Kurdish descent with others are thought to have been Turkish.

Mutmaßlicher Täter leblos aufgefunden. Alle weiteren Infos in der aktuellen Pressemeldung:
➡https://t.co/tHSYT0JqrZ#Hanau https://t.co/QGiPbv7mQx

— Polizei Südosthessen (@Polizei_soh) February 20, 2020

The shooter opened fire at around 10 pm last night the Midnight shisha bar in the Heumarkt area of the city.

Witnesses reported hearing between eight and nine gunshots before a dark vehicle was seen fleeing the scene.

The attack then continued at the Arena Bar and Cafe in the Kurt-Schumacher-Platz area, which is a short distance away.

A damaged car covered in thermal foil and surrounded by shattered glass was seen near the second shooting.

Police in front of a restaurant in central Hanau, Germany after several people were murdered in a shooting, 20-02-2020. Image: AP Photo/Michael Probst

Can-Luca Frisenna, whose father runs a local shop, said he had come running to the scene after receiving a phone call saying his father and brother may have been caught up in the shooting.

“But then I saw them both - they were horrified and they were crying and everything,” he said.

“It is like being in a film, it's like a bad joke, that someone is playing a joke on us. I can't grasp yet everything that has happened.

“My colleagues, all my colleagues, they are like my family, they can't understand it either, but I hope that there is a hope that god is with them.”

A bullet on the sidewalk at the scene of a shooting in central Hanau, Germany, 20-02-2020. Image: AP Photo/Michael Probst

Hanau mayor Claus Kaminsky told Bild: “This was a terrible evening that will certainly occupy us for a long, long time and we will remember with sadness.”

Police traced the suspected shooter to his home by tracing a vehicle that was spotted fleeing the scene.

The flat was then blocked off and searched by special police forces. There are currently no indications of any other suspects being involved.