A woman has been killed and others taken to hospital after two separate shootings caused chaos as people left bars and clubs in Austin, Texas.

The first happened on East 6th Street at around 2:15am, with people running for safety when someone began firing into a crowd after a disturbance.

The dead woman was believed to be in her 20s.

APD News Release: Murder #20: Downtown Shooting person of interest-Endicott McCray- https://t.co/WVTU6mXKpn pic.twitter.com/ktzi5u4EFQ — Austin Police Dept (@Austin_Police) July 31, 2016

Two more women and one man were taken to hospital with gunshot wounds. Their condition is said to be serious but not life-threatening.

Police are still hunting the person responsible, believed to be a man in his 20s, and are interviewing witnesses.


They tweeted a photo of a man they described as a "person of interest" who they named as Endicott McCray, a black male, 24, and may be armed.

McCray is described as 5'9" tall, 130 pounds, with long corn rows and a goatee.

Dorian Santiago told Sky News people were leaving bars to go home when the shooting happened.

"We heard five shots and then people started running crazy ... We don't hear any more shots ...The cops were running behind someone," he said.

"There was a girl freaking out who was injured ... The other one was already on the floor - they were doing CPR to help her but it looked like she was already dead."

Image: The shooting is believed to have happened outside Friends bar. Pic: @Doritosr

Less than 10 minutes after the first incident, police said they got a call about someone being assaulted inside a nearby car park.

"One individual did pull out a weapon and fire it at another individual," said Austin Police Chief of Staff Brian Manley.

Bystanders managed to tackle the gunman and no one is reported to have been injured.

The police chief said officers were initially worried "an individual ... was engaging in active shooter tactics in the entertainment district".

However he said the two incidents appeared not to be linked.

Manley said the first shooting had caused chaos on the streets of downtown with "people running in different directions".

Police are still trying to identify the suspect and have also not ruled out that the gunman could be among those taken to hospital.

Image: Police were concerned they had an active shooter on the loose. Pic: @Doritosr

The shootings come after several high-profile mass shootings in America.

On 12 June, 49 people were shot dead at an Orlando gay nightclub by a man who sympathised with Islamist extremist groups.

A military veteran then shot dead five police in Dallas on 7 July amid a demonstration over the killings of black men by police, and just over a week later three officers were killed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.