Four people were shot dead and two wounded on Thursday in a shooting spree that spread across four three Los Angeles neighbourhoods and touched off a 12-hour manhunt before police tackled and arrested an armed suspect.

A Los Angeles police spokesman identified the suspect as Gerry Zaragoza, 26, and said he was held on pending murder charges in the shooting deaths of his father and brother, and the wounding of his mother with a gun shot. The spokesman did not identify the victims.

The shooting spree started at an apartment the suspect shared with his parents at about 2 a.m. on Thursday in LA’s Canoga Park, police said.

Police said the suspect also allegedly shot and killed a woman he knew at a gas station in North Hollywood about 45 minutes later, but did not characterize their relationship.

Some media referred to her as a former girlfriend, others as an acquaintance.

At the same time, he allegedly shot and wounded a gas station clerk. The man was shot five times and was in critical condition, the Los Angeles Times and other media reported.

Later, at about 7:45 a.m., police said Zaragoza allegedly shot a gardener he tried to rob at an ATM machine. And at about 1 p.m. he allegedly shot and killed a man on a bus in the Van Nuys neighborhood, police said.

Media reports say he did not know the man on the bus and that the shooting appeared to be random.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Zaragoza was arrested in Canoga Park after being tackled by plain clothes officers about 2:30 p.m. Police used a taser to subdue him.

An LAPD spokesman had no information on any bond set for Zaragoza, but said he remained in police custody early Friday. It was unclear if he had an attorney.