Four people have been shot dead at a mall in northwest
Washington
state and the shooter has fled the scene, police said on social media.
The Friday shooting occurred at about 7 pm US time at the Cascade Mall in Burlington,
Washington, about 65 miles north of Seattle,
Washington
State Patrol spokesman Mark Francis said on Twitter.
But
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.