Several people were shot at a school in Perry, Iowa, in the US, police said on Thursday, on pupils’ first day back after their winter break.

Two gunshot victims were taken to Iowa Methodist Medical Centre in the state capital of Des Moines, about 40 miles southeast of Perry, a community of about 8,000 people.

Dallas County sheriff Adam Infante said the shooting happened before school started, so there were few pupils and staff there.

The suspect in the shooting has died of what investigators believe is a self-inflicted gunshot wound, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.

An active gunman was reported at 7.37am local time and officers arrived seven minutes later, Mr Infante said.

He added during a news conference that officers located several people with injuries, but could not confirm how many there were or their conditions.

A spokesman for UnityPoint Health, which operates the Des Moines hospital, confirmed the two gunshot victims arrived there.

An enormous number of emergency vehicles surrounded the building that houses both the town’s middle school and high school.

Zander Shelley, 15, was in a hallway waiting for the school day to start when he heard gunshots and dashed into a classroom, according to his father, Kevin Shelley.

Zander was grazed twice and hid in the classroom before texting his father at 7.36am.

Rachael Kares, 18, was finishing jazz band practice when she and her bandmates heard what she described as four gunshots, spaced apart.

“We all just jumped,” Ms Kares said. “My band teacher looked at us and yelled, ‘Run!’ So we ran.”