Best News: Reports of nightclub shooting in United States

Raw vision purportedly taken outside Pulse nightclub in Orlando, as police appear to exchange fire with at least one shooter.

Shooting erupted at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida early on Sunday and "multiple" people have been injured, police said.

The violence broke out at the Pulse nightclub, Orlando police said on Twitter, advising people to "stay away from area."

Local media reported that from seven to as many as 20 people had been shot in the incident, but had no further details. The nightclub urged patrons in a post on its Facebook page to "get out" and "keep running."

Image showing police, emergency vehicles at scene of reported shooting at downtown Orlando nightclub.

Several patrons posted on social media that a gunman was holed up inside and holding hostages. One man who was inside the club posted that the shooting broke out around 2 am and that he heard about 40 shots being fired.

Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, posted this message on social media.

Police said on Twitter they had carried out a "controlled explosion" at the club hours after the shooting broke out, but did not say why that was done. They described the scene as a "fluid situation".

Video posted online showed a large number of police and emergency vehicles outside the nightclub. Bomb sniffing dogs were also on the scene, CNN reported.

The nightclub shooting occurred just a day after a man thought to be a deranged fan fatally shot Christina Grimmie, a rising singing star who gained fame on YouTube and as a contestant on "The Voice", while she was signing autographs after a concert in Orlando.

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The man Anthony Torres told the Daily News: "We were just leaving the club and we started hearing the shots".

Afterwards, Torres reportedly returned to the club and saw medics putting a number of victims into an ambulance with more victims laid out on the parking lot near the club.

"Everyone was running and screaming."

Orlando Police have tweeted that there have been multiple injuries in the shooting. Authorities have also warned the public to stay away from the area.

They have also described the scene as fluid and said all information will come from the department.

Media: This is a fluid scene and we are working on getting you an update. All info will come from here for now.
— Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) June 12, 2016

One Twitter user claimed to be hiding in the nightclub's dressing room. He tweeted, "FOUR OF US STILL HIDING. LIGHTS ARE OFF IN CLUB. COPS ARE HERE BUT HAVENT GOT US YET." Half an hour later he wrote: "Finally out, safe. Thank you everyone for helping".

The shooting comes days after 22-year-old The Voice singing star Christina Grimmie was gunned down at a meet-and-greet in the Florida city of St Petersburg.