A gunman in a car has killed a woman and a cyclist in drive-by shootings in southern Germany, before police arrested a suspect at a petrol station.

The shooter, travelling in a silver Mercedes convertible, also fired at or threatened a farmer and another motorist, but they were not wounded, police said.

Police arrested the suspect at a petrol station near the shootings, that took place in the village of Leutershausen-Tiefenthal, near the city of Ansbach in the southern state of Bavaria on Friday.

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Police had issued a public alert about the gunman at large, warning that he was armed and dangerous, and mobilised all local police as well as helicopters.

After the arrest, police said they presumed the gunman had acted alone.

“At the moment we have no evidence of accomplices, but of course we will keep our eyes open,” police spokesman Bert Rauenbush told TV news channel N24.

The shooter’s car was registered locally.

The mayor of Leutershausen, Siegfried Hess, said he was “stunned” and told national news agency DPA: “In a place with 5500 inhabitants where we have always had a quiet life, we only know this kind of situation from television.”