CINCINNATI • Gunfire erupted in a packed nightclub in Cincinnati, Ohio, early yesterday morning, killing at least one person and injuring 14, with the police still looking for the shooter.

The motive was unclear but Cincinnati assistant police chief Paul Neudigate said on Twitter that "there are no indications this incident is terrorism-related".

The shooting took place around 1am local time (1pm, Singapore time), when hundreds of people were inside the Cameo Night Club.

The Cincinnati Police Department said the club has had "multiple problems" in the past.

"At this point, it's unclear what instigated the shooting," Captain Kimberly Williams said. "Just a lot of chaos when the shots went off."

The shooting comes less than a year after a gunman opened fire at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, killing 49 people.

It was the deadliest mass shooting in United States history.

The police initially said they believed at least two shooters were involved in Cincinnati.

But Mr Neudigate said later in a Twitter message that there was only one reported gunman, though police were still trying to determine if there were others.

Hours after the shooting, the suspect was still at large. The police did not have a good description, in part because witnesses were reluctant to cooperate, Capt Williams said.

Several victims in Cincinnati had life-threatening injuries, WLWT-TV quoted Mr Neudigate as saying.

The University of Cincinnati Medical Centre admitted eight people injured in the shooting, one of them in critical condition, a spokesman said.

The club's Facebook page says it features "College Friday's" for students 18 and older and "Saturday's 21+ grown and sexy night".

The club, a large single-storey building, is an 11km drive from downtown Cincinnati, the second- largest metropolitan area in Ohio with more than two million residents.

REUTERS