Chicago police say they are responding to a shooting near a hospital with “reports of multiple victims”.

A department spokesman issued a statement on Twitter saying officers are responding after shots were fired near Mercy Hospital on the city’s South Side.

The department says there are “reports of multiple victims”.

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said officers are searching the hospital.

He added that at least one “possible offender is shot”, but no details were immediately released. Police asked people to avoid the area.

Television footage showed several people, including some wearing white coats, walking through a car park with their arms up.