Douglasville: A quiet, suburban neighbourhood outside Atlanta was left reeling after a man shot six people killing four of them, including his ex-wife and several children before ending the rampage by fatally turning the gun on himself, police said.

The shooting happened today around 3 pm in a subdivision about 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of Atlanta, Douglas County Sheriff's Lt. Glenn Daniel said. Horrified neighbors called the police emergency dispatcher and then tried to help the severely wounded victims as best they could before rescuers arrived.