Police in the United States say a gunman who opened fire inside a shopping mall in Oregon killed at least two people and terrorised holiday shoppers before killing himself.
The afternoon shooting rampage at the crowded Clackamas Town Center in the Portland suburb of Happy Valley touched off panic inside the mall, with shoppers streaming out as police and fire crews arrived on the scene, Reuters reports. Others hid in the back rooms of shops.
"I can confirm that we believe at this point that there was one and only one shooter involved and that that shooter is deceased," Clackamas County Sheriff's spokesperson Lieutenant James Rhodes told a media briefing.
"In addition to that, we have at least one patient who was taken from the mall with a traumatic injury and at least two that were deceased in addition to the shooter."
Mr Rhodes said later that the suspect died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound and that police had not fired a single shot inside the mall. The wounded victim was taken by helicopter to a hospital where a spokesperson says she was in a serious condition.
The incident marked the latest in a string of shooting rampages this year that included the killing of 12 people and wounding of 58 others at a midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Rises" in Colorado.