CHICAGO, US - A gunman killed five people and injured two at a city meeting in a St Louis, Missouri suburb late Thursday before police shot him dead, St Louis County Police spokesewoman Tracy Panus told AFP.

The incident occurred at around 7 pm at a city meeting in Kirkwood, Missouri, said Panus, adding that six people were killed in total and two injured.

"Six people. That includes the gunman," she said.

The incident began when the suspect approached and fatally shot a police officer in a parking lot about a half a block from the city government building where the meeting was being held, she said.

"The gunman proceeded into the city council building, where he shot another Kirkwood County police officer fatally. He then shot three Kirkwood City employees," she said.

"He then engaged in a gunfight with Kirkwood Police Officers and he was shot and killed."

"Before that happened, he shot and wounded two other people at the meeting," a civilian and a city employee, she added.