PARIS -- A policeman killed three people and wounded three others with his pistol before committing suicide on Saturday night in a town in the north of Paris, the French television channel BFMTV reported Sunday.

The policeman killed two people who were on a public road and had no relationship with him before killing his father-in-law and critically injuring his wife, the mother and the sister of the woman in the house where the family of his wife lives, the French channel said.

The policeman then committed suicide in the garden of the house, next to his dog, according to the French newspaper Le Parisien.

A dispute between the policeman and his wife could be the cause of the tragedy, Le Parisien said.

Since the beginning of the year, at least 46 police officers and 16 gendarmes have committed suicide in France, according to the newspaper.