Four people were killed and at least 20 injured in a shooting at a teenager’s birthday party in Alabama on Saturday.

The attack happened at around 10.30pm ET at a dance studio in the town of Dadeville, according to local media.

There was no confirmation of what had led to the shooting, and it was not known whether any suspects had been taken into custody.

TV station WRBL broadcast images of crime scene tape around the Mahogany Masterpiece Dance Studio and surrounding buildings.

Pastor Ben Hayes, who serves as chaplain for the Dadeville Police Department and the local high school football team, said most of the victims were teenagers because the shooting happened at a party for a 16-year-old.

“One of the young men that was killed was one of our star athletes and just a great guy. So I knew many of these students. Dadeville is a small town and this is going to affect everybody in this area,” said Mr Hayes.

Kay Ivey, the Alabama governor, said in a Twitter post on Sunday morning that she was being “closely updated” by law enforcement officials as details emerged:

The shooting happened within weeks of two high-profile mass shootings in the nearby states of Tennessee and Kentucky, which prompted local leaders to call for tighter gun control measures last week.

A bank employee shot dead five colleagues and wounded nine other people at his workplace in Louisville, Kentucky, on Monday.

On March 27, three nine-year-olds and three staff members were killed at a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, by a former student.