Story highlights A man with a shotgun shoots one person in a Greenville law firm parking lot

He then shoots three people in a Walmart parking lot

He is shot by police after he disobeys orders to drop the weapon

A gunman shot four people in Greenville, North Carolina, before being shot by police, Mayor Allen Thomas told CNN.

Shortly before noon, the gunman approached and shot one person in a parking lot at the Kellum Law Firm and then three people in the parking lot of a Walmart, police said.

The man, armed with a shotgun, was walking through the Walmart parking lot when he disobeyed police orders to drop the weapon, police said. He fired the shotgun at police officers, who returned fired and shot him, police said.

Even after he was wounded, the gunman refused to comply with police commands to surrender, and officers used the cover of a vehicle to approach and arrest him, police said.

The victims were transported to a hospital. Their conditions and that of the gunman were not known.

The incident occurred near Landmark Street and Greenville Boulevard, police said.