Multiple people have been injured during a shooting at a strip mall in Houston, Texas, according to media reports.

In a statement on Twitter, Houston police confirmed that “several people” were shot by a suspect on Monday morning.

Paramedics were dispatched at about 6:30 to reports of an active shooter situation at a Petco Store in the southwest of the city, Houston Fire Department spokesman Jay Evans told NBC News.

The victims were taken to area hospitals but the severity of their injuries was not immediately known.

Some media reports suggested that as many as 7 people were shot and injured.

A fire official said that some were shot while inside their cars outside the mall.

Police later said that the suspect was shot by an officer and taken to custody. No other suspects were reported.

“He has been neutralized,” Assistant Fire Chief Richard Mann said. “I do not know if he is dead, but he is no longer a threat to the public.”

Witnesses told local media that the gunman had been shooting for at least 15 minutes before officers arrived. A witness said he heard about 100 “steady gunshots” being fired.

A bomb squad was sent to the scene after a suspicious vehicle was discovered, according to local media.

The shooting came days after a shooting at a shopping mall in Washington State which left five people dead.

On September 17, a 20-year-old man stabbed 10 people at a mall in central Minnesota before being shot dead by an off-duty officer. The FBI is investigating that attack as a potential act of terrorism.

By Press TV