MOSCOW, April 27 A Russian police major went on a killing spree at a Moscow supermarket on Monday, leaving three people dead and at least six injured, investigators said.

Major Denis Yevsyukov, head of police of the southern Moscow district of Tsaritsyno, was celebrating his birthday in a cafe and apparently argued with his wife before embarking on what proved to be a night of havoc.

Returning home, he donned his policeman's coat and went out again, taking a lift in a private taxi, the prosecutor general's investigative committee said in a statement.

Yevsyukov shot dead the driver of the taxi. The police chief then entered the Ostrov supermarket and continued firing. “A female cashier and a man were killed. Another six people received gunshot wounds of varying degrees of seriousness,” the statement said.

Police arrived at the supermarket and Yevsyukov turned on them. “He was firing vigorously, putting up resistance. It's a miracle none of the boys taking part in the arrest were injured,” ITAR-TASS quoted a police source as saying. Of at least six wounded people, four were in a serious condition. All were aged in their late teens or 20s, hospital sources said, quoted by Interfax.

A major investigation was under way, with initial reports suggesting the gunman had lost his mind due to family and work problems.

Amid debate on how the incident could have happened, other reports noted a history of management problems in the southern Moscow police division, which had led to two dismissals in its leadership in the last week.

The Makarov pistol used in the shooting was also a focus of attention as it was not the policeman's service weapon but sought in a criminal investigation in southern Russia.

“In all likelihood Yevsyukov took the Makarov pistol... off criminals and didn't give it up,” Interfax quoted a police source as saying.

The incident is the latest blow to the reputation of Russia's police, long dogged by charges of corruption and abuse.—AFP