At least 15 shot at Illinois university

A gunman has wounded at least 15 people when he opened fire with a shotgun in a university classroom outside Chicago, authorities said.

It appears that the gunman had been killed.

Campus police report that the immediate danger has passed,' the website of Northern Illinois University in DeKalb said on its website. 'The gunman is no longer a threat.'

The local student newspaper and other media outlets said the gunman was dead, possibly by suicide.

A hospital near the campus said at least three victims suffered head wounds, and as many as 15 wounded people were expected. Local media reported 18 people were shot, including the gunman.

One student told local radio that roughly 140 students were in a geology classroom when the man opened fire. Other witnesses said students were bleeding profusely from neck and other wounds after being hit by buckshot from the shotgun.

Ambulances swarmed onto the 25,000-student campus, which is 104 km west of downtown Chicago, and classes were cancelled, the university said on its website.

One male student said he was sitting in the class, taking notes when the gunman entered from behind a curtain, firing a shotgun. 'He was just shooting, and people were screaming.'

A woman who was outside the classroom when the shooting occurred said students fled in terror.

US schools and colleges have seen a series of shooting incidents in recent years.

A university in Blacksburg, Virginia, Virginia Tech, became the site of the deadliest rampage in U.S. history in April last year when a gunman killed 32 people and himself.