Swedish police have said that several people were killed in a restaurant shooting in Gothenburg on Wednesday.

The police added that the incident was likely to be a gang-related shooting and it was not terror-related. Gothenburg is the second largest city in Sweden after capital Stockholm.

"There's absolutely nothing suggesting this would have anything to do with terrorism," police spokeswoman Ulla Brehm said.

Police said that automatic weapons were used in the incident, but they did not reveal the number of deaths, expressing fear that the death toll could rise.

Brehm said that Hisingen, an island off Gothenburg, had witnessed several incidences of gang violence.

"We have had a targeted police operation in this area because we have gang crime here. There has been shootings in the past," Brehm said.