KUALA LUMPUR: A man gunned down his ex-wife with an automatic weapon before turning the firearm to his temple and pulling the trigger here Friday.

The murder-suicide rocked the office of a law firm in the heart of the city at around 3pm.

City CID chief Senior Asst Comm Rusdi Mohd Isa said the man, 51, showed up at the law firm where his ex-wife, 46, worked armed with a Norinco automatic pistol, a machete and a fire cracker hidden inside a racket bag.

"He called out his ex-wife to the reception area.

"Staff there said they heard the two arguing loudly before several gunshots rang out," he said when met at the scene.

From initial investigations, police believe the man, known only as Ramesh, fired four to five shots, hitting his ex-wife once in the back and once in the leg.

"He then put the gun to his temple and shot himself," he said.

SAC Rusdi said the duo divorced about five years ago and had three children, aged 16 to 24.

"They have had problems since the divorce.

"She even changed her workplace because of this and she came back to this firm about two years ago," he said.

The man, according to police, had a violent past and a record under Section 324 of the Penal Code for causing hurt with a dangerous weapon.

However, police declined to say if he was involved in the criminal underworld.

Police are checking CCTV footage to find out how the events unfolded as no one saw what happened.

"They only heard the argument but didn't understand because they were arguing in Tamil," he said.

The bodies have been sent Hospital Kuala Lumpur for a post-mortem.