A Dutch police officer shot and killed his two young children and himself at a home in the city of Dordrecht on Monday evening, a police official said.

The 34-year-old policeman also shot and seriously wounded his 28-year-old wife, said police spokeswoman Miriam Slot. The children were aged eight and 12, she said.

Emergency response teams were at the scene, a home in Dordrecht, near the port of Rotterdam and forensics teams were also present.

Dordrecht Mayor Wouter Kolff said he was planning to visit the site of the “very serious shooting incident”.