Authorities in Minneapolis, Minnesota, reported on Wednesday that a shooting at a Catholic school in the southern part of the city left three people dead, including the gunman, and 17 others injured.

The Mayor of Minneapolis confirmed that some of the victims were children and described the incident as causing widespread panic within the school and the adjoining church.

Live footage showed numerous parents evacuating the building with their children amid a heavy presence of emergency responders. One witness told AFP that they were in the process of retrieving their children from the school following the shooting.