BERLIN - Six people were found shot to death early Monday at a Chinese restaurant in northern Germany, police said.

The corpses of three men and three women, some of them tied up, were found in Sittensen, a town of some 10,000 people south of Hamburg, police said in a statement.

Police said a 47-year-old found the bodies when he went to pick up his wife from the Lin Yue restaurant at about half past midnight (2330GMT Sunday). The woman was among the victims.

The bodies were spread across several rooms in the restaurant, police said. In addition, a restaurant employee suffered a life-threatening gunshot wound and was taken to a hospital.

Police had not yet identified all the victims, but said they were "in all probability Asian."

By late Monday morning, they said they had no witnesses other than the man who found the bodies and no tips as to who might have been responsible. There was no immediate word on any possible motive.

Police appealed for anyone who visited the restaurant on Sunday evening, and to passers-by who saw anything suspicious, to come forward.

The Lin Yue restaurant is located on the second floor of a building that contains offices.