A gunman opened fire at a synagogue in the US city of Pittsburgh on Saturday, reportedly killing at least four people and injuring others before being taken into custody.
Officials did not immediately confirm a motive for the attack at the synagogue, where dozens of people were understood to be celebrating Shabbat services on the Jewish sabbath, and which comes with the United States witnessing a sharp spike in anti-Semitic incidents.
US television networks reported that at least four people had died, while the local CBS affiliate reported that eight people were dead.
"Watching the events unfolding in Pittsburgh," tweeted US President Donald Trump. "Law enforcement on the scene. People in Squirrel Hill area should remain sheltered. Looks like multiple fatalities."
A police spokesman addressing reporters at the scene confirmed "multiple casualties" and said three officers where shot before the shooter was taken into custody.
The condition of the officers was not immediately clear.
Police were still clearing the building, the official said.
A woman at the scene told CNN that her daughter was with others who ran down the stairs and barricaded themselves in the basement of the synagogue after hearing shots.
"They're safe, but they kept hearing them firing and everything else," she told the television network.
CNN broadcast footage of police cars, ambulances and a police SWAT team outside the place of worship.
The Tree of Life Synagogue is about five miles (eight kilometers) east of downtown Pittsburgh in the residential Squirrel Hill neighborhood.
Pittsburgh's Public Safety department, which includes the police, declared earlier that an active shooter was in the area near the synagogue, urging residents to stay away.
"There are multiple casualties," the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette quoted Police Commander Jason Lando as saying.
It is the latest shooting incident in the United States, where gunmen regularly cause mass casualties and firearms are linked to more than 30,000 deaths annually.

President Donald Trump responded to what he's calling the "devastating" shooting, saying: "It's a 'terrible thing what's going on with hate in our country."
Trump spoke to reporters at Andrews Air Force Base before traveling to Indianapolis.
He told reporters the violence "has to stop."
Trump also said the outcome might have been different if the synagogue "had some kind of protection" from an armed guard and suggested that might be a good idea for all churches and synagogues.
He also said such shooters should receive the death penalty and "suffer the ultimate price."

From: Arabnews