The shooter, named as 32-year-old Eduardo Sencion, used an AK-47 assault rifle in the early morning attack at a restaurant in Carson City, in which two Guardsmen were among the dead and three injured.

"This is a real tragic event," Sheriff Ken Furlong said in a late afternoon briefing, adding: "Many of the victims were National Guard persons at the restaurant at the time in uniform."

Witnesses called the emergency services shortly after 9:00 am (1600 GMT) when they saw a man in the parking lot of the International House of Pancakes, a chain restaurant.

A sheriff's office spokesman, Jack Freer, told AFP three people were killed -- two National Guardsmen and a female civilian. Of the eight others injured, three were National Guard members, he said.

The five National Guard members -- two women and three men -- were having an informal meeting when Sencion came in and fired on their table, Furlong said.

The shooter initially survived, but died later of his wounds. The Mexican-born Carson City resident had a US passport and no criminal history, according to police records.

AFP