Los Angeles (dpa) - Multiple people were killed during a shooting at a shopping complex in the US city of El Paso, Texas, police spokesman Enrique Carillo said on Saturday.

Carillo could not provide the total number of deaths.

"There is no active shooter currently," Carillo told reporters, adding that one person is in police custody.

On Saturday morning the El Paso Police Department said in a series of tweets that an active shooter had attacked the area of the Cielo Vista Mall, an enclosed shopping centre in the Texas city abutting the Mexican border.

Reports also said the shooting took place at an adjacent Walmart shopping centre.

The police later said they received reports of multiple shooters, but police now believe there was one shooter, Robert Gomez, a police spokesman said.

"We are searching multiple scenes. Primarily the Walmart, but we have scenes at the mall also. So the entire area," Carillo said.

Local media station KTSM said that 18 people were shot inside a Walmart.

The extent of the injuries is unknown.

The shooting comes as the US continues to grapple with gun violence and mass shootings that have swept the country for years.

Last weekend a gunman killed four people and injured 12 when he rampaged through an annual festival in the town of Gilroy, California.

"Action must be taken to finally #EndGunViolence," Nancy Pelosi, the leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives said in a tweet.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott said El Paso was "struck by a heinous and senseless act of violence."

President Donald Trump was briefed on the El Paso shooting.

"The President has been briefed on the shooting in El Paso, and we continue to monitor the situation. The President has spoken with Attorney General [William] Barr and Governor [Greg] Abbott," Groves said in a statement.