The police in Tanzania are hunting a lone gunman who has killed at least eight people and injured three over several nights in the northern region of Maria.
The killings started last Saturday night and included a raid on a bar.
Witnesses say that in some cases the man demanded mobile phones and money, on other occasions he did not take anything from his victims, a report in the Tanzania Citizen said.
The paper said the attacks had created fear in the district of Tarime.
The Habari Leo, also a Tanzanian newspaper, is quoted by the BBC as having reported that the gunman has also been attacking people he meets on the road.
The Citizen, another Tanzanian newspaper said many businesses were opening later and closing earlier to avoid the gunman and the town of Tarime “resembles a ghost town at night.”
The BBC spoke to the Tarime police Commander Justus Kamugisha and reports that the commander indicated the manhunt was continuing, five days after the attacks began.
Police investigators have arrived from Dar-es-Salaam to assist in the search, according to the BBC.
A special operation involving about 160 police officers was launched yesterday morning
The weapon the man was suspected to have used was a submachine gun or an assault rifle, the police commander said.
"We will not rest until we get him and bring him to book," Mr Kamugisha told the Citizen
BBC Swahili TV's Salim Kikeke says it is not unusual for people in the Mara region, which borders Lake Victoria and Kenya, to illegally carry arms in order to protect their livestock.
