At least eight people have reportedly been killed in shooting incidents in the German city of Hanau, where two shisha bars were targeted.

Another five people have been seriously injured.

The motive for the shootings which occurred about 10pm on Wednesday (local time) is not clear.

The suspect in the shooting was subsequently found dead at his home early Thursday (local time), hours after the attacks, police said.

A car covered in thermal foil could be seen at one of the crime scenes, with shattered glass next to it. Forensic experts in white overalls  collected evidence.

Local media reported that the first shots were fired at the Midnight shisha bar in the city centre, with witnesses saying they had heard eight or nine shots.

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The perpetrators subsequently drove to the western neighbourhood of Kesselstadt before they started shooting again at another shisha bar, the Arena Bar & Café.

Shisha – or ‘hookah’ – lounges are places where people gather to smoke flavoured tobacco from Middle Eastern water pipes.

Hanau, in the south-western state of Hessen, is about 25km (15 miles) east of Frankfurt with a population of about 100,000.

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

Police from neighbouring Bavaria were reportedly deployed to help their local colleagues.

-with AAP