AT LEAST FOUR people have been shot at a university in the US state of Maryland.

The Baltimore Police Department said officers were on the scene for an “active shooter situation” on the campus of Morgan State University in Baltimore.

The address given for the shooting appeared to match a residential building.

“We’re asking everyone to shelter in place and avoid the area,” police said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Police spokesperson Vernon Davis told the Baltimore Banner that at least four people were shot. Their conditions were not immediately known.

Police spokesperson Amanda Krotki also said “multiple victims” were shot.

City Council member Odette Ramos said on X that students and staff were ordered to shelter in place.

At the scene last night night, officers were blocking off the south entrance to campus near dorm buildings while a police helicopter circled overhead.

Ish Sargent, 20, who lives nearby, said she and her friends came outside when they heard the helicopter. They did not hear gunshots.

Sargent said she does not usually worry about gun violence in the area but “at a school though, that’s crazy”.

Morgan State is a historically Black university, a term used in the US to describe higher education institutions that were founded to provide an education to Black students before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed schools being able to racially discriminate and exclude Black people.

The university reported an enrollment of more than 9,000 students as of late 2022.