Medics wait to gain access to the Cascade Mall after four people were shot dead in Burlington, Washington, US September 24, 2016.

Three people were shot dead and two were wounded during a shooting at a mall on Friday in northwest Washington state where authorities were searching for the gunman, several media outlets reported.

Authorities initially said on social media that four people were killed in the shooting, that occurred at about 7 p.m. local time Friday at the Cascade Mall in Burlington, Washington, about 65 miles (105 km) north of Seattle.

ABC News and several local media outlets reported that three, not four, people were fatally wounded. Three women were shot dead, a man was critically injured and another woman suffered non-life threatening injuries, Washington State Patrol spokesman Mark Francis told the network.

Harborview Medical Center in Seattle said in a statement that it was treating a man who was in critical condition from the shooting. A local CBS affiliate reported that a nearby high school football game was evacuated as a precaution.

Francis said on Twitter that police were actively searching for the shooter, who was described as a “Hispanic male wearing gray” and last seen walking toward a nearby highway away from the mall.

“Tragedy has struck in Washington tonight. Our hearts are in Burlington,” Governor Jay Inslee said on Twitter.

Rescue workers were entering the mall to attend to the injured, Francis said in a Twitter post.

The shooting comes less than a week after a man stabbed nine people at a mall in central Minnesota before being shot dead. The FBI is investigating that attack as a potential act of terrorism.

NBC News reported that Washington State Patrol have said that there is no indication of terrorism in the shooting in Burlington.

[vuukle]

Related articles across the web

• 1 killed after car crashes into tent near I-5 offramp in Seattle's University District
• Car crashes into tent along I-5 in Seattle, kills man inside
• Car crashes into tent along I-5 in Seattle, kills man inside
• Car crashes into tent along I-5 in Seattle, kills man inside
• Wrong-way driver on SR 18 killed, 5 others injured
• 5 injured after horse gets spooked at Washington fair
• We're Going to the Trump Rally Tonight. Here's How to Follow Along
• New state ferry M/V Chimacum christened at Vigor on Harbor Island
• Trump Says He'll Attend All 3 Debates
• Donald Trump Says He'll Attend All 3 Debates