The university police identified a student, Christopher Darnell Jones as the suspect, and said multiple agencies were engaged in an active search.

Jones was described as wearing a “burgundy jacket, blue jeans and red shoes”, and may have been driving a black SUV, according to the authorities.

An email sent to the student body by the university’s vice-president recommended that all students seek safety and follow shelter-in-place commands as the situation remained active.

The shooting is the latest in a wave of gun violence on US college and high school campuses in recent years.

The bloodshed has fuelled the debate over tighter restrictions on access to guns in the US, where the second amendment of the constitution guarantees the right to bear arms.