The US police said on Twitter that a shooting took place Saturday at a shopping mall in Columbia, South Carolina.
The police said that the attack resulted in the injury of 12 people, some of them in a critical condition, while 3 people were arrested.
Few official details are available, but local media reported a heavy police and emergency presence at the mall.
The accident panicked visitors to the mall (Associated Press)
Local television footage showed police blocking an exit from a nearby highway, and Colombia's WIS television said the shooting took place inside the mall.
The Columbia Police Department said in a tweet that its officers acted in response to a report of a "shooting inside the Columbia Center."