"At approximately 2.30pm we received a call of a shooting... Officers responded, they found several victims, and they were checking the area, checking the buildings, looking for more victims," said Jason James, a police spokesman in the East Texas city of Bryan.

"Right now the subject is at large... this is a fluid situation."

The force tweeted that all victims had been taken to local hospitals, adding that the shooting was "still an active investigation" with the attacker at large,

Six people were wounded with several in critical condition, according to local TV station KBTX, which reported that the shooting occurred at a manufacturing facility for Kent Moore Cabinets.

The attack follows recent mass shootings in Colorado, Georgia and California.