A man opened fire at a mall in the US state of Indiana on Sunday, killing three people and wounding two, officials said.
No motive has been established. The incident is the latest armed rampage in a country plagued by gun violence.
The attack ended when a “good Samaritan” shot the gunman dead, AFP quoted the police as saying.
“We experienced a mass shooting this evening at the Greenwood Park Mall,” said Greenwood mayor Mark Myers.
The town is about 16 kilometres to the south of the city centre of state capital Indianapolis.
The gunman, who has not been identified, entered the mall's food court at about 6pm local time, carrying a rifle along with several magazines of ammunition and opened fire, Greenwood Police Department chief Jim Ison said.
Those wounded included a girl, 12.
“Four have been confirmed deceased,” he said, noting that the number included the gunman.
Chief Ison praised the intervention of the armed passer-by, 22, who ended the attack, calling him a “good Samaritan”.
“The real hero of the day is the citizen that was lawfully carrying a firearm in that food court and was able to stop this shooter almost as soon as he began,” he said.
“This has shaken us to our core. This isn't something we have seen in Greenwood before. It's absolutely horrendous.”
It is the latest attack in a wave of gun violence plaguing the US, where about 40,000 deaths a year are caused by firearms, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
The attack comes weeks after a gunman opened fire on a July 4 parade in an affluent Chicago suburb, killing seven people and wounding at least three dozen.
That incident followed two massacres in May in which 10 black people were shot dead at an upstate New York supermarket, and 19 children and two teachers were killed at an elementary school in Texas.
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Emergency personnel gather after a deadly shooting at a mall in Greenwood, a town near Indianapolis. AP -
A social media screen grab of people being evacuated. Reuters -
The scene of a deadly shooting. AP -
The food court where the shooting occurred inside Greenwood Park Mall. Reuters -
Officers from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, better known as ATF, arrive at the scene of the shooting. AP -
The killing of the gunman was quickly seized upon by supporters of America's Second Amendment that provides its citizens the right to bear arms. AP -
FBI agents gather at the scene of the shooting, where three people were killed while two were wounded after a man with a rifle opened fire in a food court. AP -
The assailant was shot dead by an armed civilian. Reuters -
Officers attach a crime scene tape to a shopping cart at the mall. Reuters -
The gunman walked into the mall with a rifle and several magazines of ammunition and began firing in the food court. Reuters -
Police confiscated a suspicious backpack that was in a bathroom near the food court. Reuters -
The mass shooting is the latest to unnerve America this year. Reuters -
Greenwood Park Mall, shown here in the daytime. AP
The recent surge in gun violence has reignited the divisive debate over firearm regulation.
A US House of Representatives' committee is set this week to discuss a bill that would ban assault weapons for the first time in about 20 years.
A 10-year federal assault weapons ban expired in 2004.
