A US gunman has shot ten people, including his mother and other family members, before taking his own life after a gunbattle with police and a car chase down a rural highway.

Michael McLendon, 27, who lived with his mother, killed five of his victims at a mobile home in Samson, in southeastern Alabama. The victims included the wife of a local deputy sheriff and her child.

McLendon, who was armed with pistols and assault rifles, also killed two people at a convenience store and a man in a pickup truck who died during a car chase as McLendon apparently fired at random.

The shooting spree began in Kinston, a small town in Coffee County, and continued to Samson, where McLendon killed his grandmother, uncle and others, the FBI said.

It ended after a car chase and gun battle with police in Geneva, about 12 miles away, they said.

"We sent 11 bodies to Montgomery (the state capital)," said coroner Robert Preachers, who knew most of the victims including the killer.

"He (McLendon) was a nice quiet kid, no trouble. He was always polite and nice."

Describing the car chase, Wynnton Melton, mayor of nearby Geneva, said: "Officer Ricky Morgan rammed his car to distract him and was rewarded with a hail of bullets .... One bullet grazed the shoulder of police chief Frankie Lindsey."

A police officer in Geneva said the gunman "shot at several vehicles on the highway and then he shot at Wal-Mart and Piggly Wiggly," a grocery store.

Mr Preachers added: "He killed her (his mother) and her dogs. He shot the dogs in the head. Then he piled them up and gassed them (poured gasoline on them and lit it). He laid the dogs next to her."

In one of the worst recent shooting incidents, a gunman dressed as Santa Claus killed nine guests at a Christmas Eve party, before taking his own life in Covina, California.

On April 16, 2007, Virginia Tech university in Blacksburg, Virginia, became the site of the deadliest rampage in modern US history when a student gunman killed 32 people and himself.

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