A MASS shooting near a US church tonight has left one person dead and at least six others injured.

Cops rushed to the scene outside Perkins Square Baptist Church in Baltimore, Maryland, at around 5:30pm local time (10:30pm BST).

2 Police rushed to the scene as at least seven people were gunned down near a church in Baltimore tonight Credit: Citizen App

2 The victims were shot near this Baltimore church Credit: Google Maps

Police later confirmed that at least seven people had been shot - and one victim had died.

The extent of the other injuries is not yet known.

Local reports say the gunman is still on the loose after fleeing the scene in a car.

It is not believed that the shooting had any connection to the church nearby.

Residents told local media that a neighbourhood cookout was taking place when the gunman pulled up in a car and opened fire.

HIGH ALERT

Authorities are on high alert as places of worship are increasingly being targeted by far-right and jihadist terrorists.

Tonight's shooting comes just a day after a woman was killed and three others were injured in an assault rifle attack at a California synagogue.

John Earnest, 19, allegedly stormed the Chabad of Poway, near San Diego, as worshippers gathered for the final day of Passover on Saturday.

Cops said the gunman, wearing a helmet and bulletproof vest, began shooting at the synagogue before a hero off-duty Border Patrol officer returned fire.

The attacker then fled in a car before being pulled over by cops and giving himself up.

A sick hate-filled manifesto written by someone calling themselves John Earnest appeared online before the attack.

In the racist screed, the author said he had been inspired by the Christchurch massacre suspect Brenton Tarrant.

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He also claimed to have been behind a recent mosque fire in nearby Escondido.

The Poway attack came exactly six months after a shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue killed 11 - which authorities say was a neo-Nazi hate crime.

Jiahdi terrorists in Sri Lanka also targeted churches in Easter Sunday's suicide bombings which left more than 250 people dead.