Gunman killed as US police rescue firefighter hostages

Police in the United States have shot dead a gunman holding four firefighters hostage in a row over his electricity.

The firefighters suffered minor injuries from stun grenades used by police in the rescue raid on a house in Suwanee, Georgia, as their captor exchanged gunfire with a Swat team.

The captor, as yet unidentified, appeared to have demanded his electricity and telephone service be restored.

It comes as a US gun control law looked to be one step closer as two key US senators brokered a bipartisan deal to expand background checks on firearms buyers.

Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat, and Senator Pat Toomey, a Republican, unveiled proposals to expand criminal background checks for buyers to include gun shows and online sales.

President Barack Obama has been calling for gun controls since the massacre at Sandy Hook elementary school in Connecticut in December.

“Today is just the start of a healthy debate that must end with the Senate and House hopefully passing these commonsense measures and the president signing them into law,” Mr Manchin said.

Today, the Senate will vote on whether to begin a debate on Democratic-led legislation that would expand background checks to nearly all gun sales.