One person killed and at least four injured in shooting in midtown Atlanta

One person was fatally shot and at least four injured on Wednesday in a shooting in a midtown Atlanta building, police said.

Atlanta police said there had been no additional shots fired since the initial shooting unfolded just after 12.30pm inside a building on West Peachtree Street, between 12th and 13th Streets, a commercial area with office buildings and high-rise apartments.

No suspect was in custody and police said just after 1pm that it was an “active, fluid situation”.

Police said they were searching for the suspect and any additional victims. The four injured people were taken to a hospital for treatment and the fifth person was pronounced dead at the scene.

Cities around the US have been racked by gun violence and mass shootings.

The Gun Violence Archive, a non-profit, defines a mass shooting as any shooting with “a minimum of four victims shot, either injured or killed, not including any shooter”.

On Wednesday, the GVA said there had been 189 mass shootings in the US this year.

In a statement, Kris Brown, president of Brady, a national gun violence prevention group, said: “Banks, supermarkets, schools, homes and now medical facilities. People in this country are being gunned down in every public and private location imaginable.

“Unfortunately, no place in America will be safe from gun violence unless we … enact commonsense legislation that keeps firearms out of the hands of people who wish to commit harm.

“Our hearts go out to the victims and families of yet another senseless, preventable mass shooting.”

Atlanta police posted four photographs of the suspect, who appeared to walk into an office doorway and raise their arm. The person was wearing dark pants and a light hoodie with the hood pulled up. They had a mask on and appeared to be wearing a brown backpack across their front.

Authorities said the person was believed to be armed and dangerous and asked anyone with information to call 911. The Atlanta mayor, Andre Dickens, said he was in contact with police. Police urged anyone in the area to secure their building and shelter in place.

Dozens of police and fire vehicles gathered along West Peachtree Street, as officers with assault-style rifles, helmets and vests continued to arrive.

Many officers clustered outside the front entrance of a Northside Medical building. Helicopters hovered while police tried to keep traffic moving. Construction workers watched in a neighborhood where many new high-rises are being built.

About an hour after the gunfire, a Swat team gathered near the High Art Museum, about three quarters of a mile from the shooting scene, according to video posted by a local CBS affiliate.

Atlanta public schools said several schools in the area would operate on external lockdown for the rest of the day, “out of an abundance of caution”.