Nine people in Ohio have been killed in the second mass shooting in the US in less than 24 hours, police said.
The suspected gunman is also dead.
Dayton police tweeted that an active shooter situation began in the Oregon District at 1am local time, but that officers nearby were able to “put an end to it quickly”.
Lt Col Matt Carper told a press conference that the suspect was shot dead by responding officers.
At least 16 others were taken to local hospitals with injuries, police said.
Police believe there was only one gunman and have not yet identified the suspect or a motive.
Lt Col Carper said the suspect used a long gun and fired multiple rounds.
Miami Valley Hospital spokeswoman Terrea Little said 16 victims have been received at the hospital but could not confirm their conditions.
Kettering Health Network spokeswoman Elizabeth Long said multiple victims from a shooting had been brought to system hospitals but did not have details on how many.
With a population of around 140,000, Dayton is in western Ohio, around 55 miles north east of Cincinnati, 75 miles west of Columbus and 120 miles east of Indianapolis.
The Oregon District is a historic neighbourhood that Lt Col Carper described as “a safe part of downtown”, home to entertainment options, including bars, restaurants and cinemas.
The shooting took place outside, on East 5th Street.
“This is extremely unusual, obviously, for any community, let alone Dayton,” Lt Col Carper said.“In our Oregon District, this is unheard of.”
The FBI is assisting with the investigation.
The Ohio shooting came hours after a young man opened fire in a crowded shopping area in El Paso, Texas, leaving 20 dead and more than two dozen injured.
Police are investigating a racist diatribe they believe was posted by the gunman on 8Chan which would make the Walmart killing spree a terrorist hate crime.
Just days before, on July 28, a 19-year-old shot and killed three people, including two children, at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in northern California.
The El Paso shooting was the 21st mass killing in the US in 2019, according to the AP/USA Today/Northeastern University mass murder database.
It tracks all US homicides since 2006 involving four or more people killed – not including the offender – over a short period of time regardless of weapon, location, victim-offender relationship or motive.
That makes Sunday’s shooting in Dayton the 22nd mass killing in the US this year.
The first 20 mass killings in the US in 2019 claimed 96 lives.
Interviewed outside the hospital in El Paso where many of Saturday’s victims were taken local legislator and would be Democrat Presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke said the victims he had spoken to asked for action to stop such gun crime.
“Yes, it’s the gun laws. Yes, it’s the universal background checks. And yes, we should stop selling weapons of war into our communities. But I think we also have to confront this hatred that I have never seen in my lifetime,” said O’Rourke.
O’Rourke said: “We have to find some reason for optimism and hope or else we consign ourselves to a future where nearly 40,000 people a year will lose their lives to gun violence and I cannot accept that.”
Bernie Sanders, who was with O’Rourke and other Democrat Presidential candidates at a union meeting in Las Vegas on Saturday, said: “It’s not just today, it has happened several times this week. It’s happened here in Las Vegas where some lunatic killed some 50 odd people.”
“All over the world, people are looking at the United States and wondering what is going on? What is the mental health situation in America, where time after time, after time, after time, we’re seeing indescribable horror.”
The Vermont Senator slammed Republicans for continuing to back the wealthy gun lobby rather than “listening to the vast majority of the American people” over gun safety legislation.
Others joined the calls for legislation to make checks on guns safer not to be blocked any more.
– May 31 2019: Longtime city worker DeWayne Craddock opened fire in a building that houses Virginia Beach government offices. He killed 12 people and wounded several others before he was gunned down by police.
– February 15 2019: Gary Martin killed five co-workers at a manufacturing plant in Aurora, Illinois, during a disciplinary meeting where he was fired. He wounded one other employee and five of the first police officers to arrive at the suburban Chicago plant before he was killed during a shootout with police.
– November 7 2018: Ian David Long killed 12 people at a country music bar in Thousand Oaks, California, before taking his own life. Long was a Marine combat veteran of the war in Afghanistan.
– October 27 2018: Robert Bowers is accused of opening fire at Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, during Shabbat morning services, killing 11 and injuring others. It was the deadliest attack on Jews in the US in history.
– June 28 2018: Jarrod Ramos shot through the windows of the Capital Gazette offices in Annapolis, Maryland, before turning the weapon on employees there, killing five at The Capital newspaper. Authorities say Ramos had sent threatening letters to the newspaper prior to the attack.
– May 18 2018: Dimitrios Pagourtzis began shooting during an art class at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas. The 17-year-old killed eight students and two teachers and 13 others were wounded. Explosives were found at the school and off campus.
– February 14 2018: Nikolas Cruz shot and killed 17 students and staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. It surpassed Columbine High School as the deadliest shooting at a high school in US history.
– November 5 2017: Devin Patrick Kelley, who had been discharged from the air force after a conviction for domestic violence, used an AR-style firearm in a shooting at a small church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, killing more than two dozen.
– October 1 2017: Stephen Paddock opened fire on an outdoor music festival on the Las Vegas Strip from the 32nd floor of a hotel-casino, killing 58 people and wounding more than 500. Swat teams with explosives then stormed his room and found he had killed himself.
