A shooting in Raleigh, North Carolina's capital, killed at least five people, including an off-duty police officer according to officials on Thursday, adding that a suspect had been apprehended.

Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin stated that the shooting happened near the Neuse River Greenway, a popular trail in the area.

"This is a sad and tragic day for the city of Raleigh. Just after 5:00 pm today, multiple people were shot," she told reporters.

On its account, the Raleigh Police Department "has confirmed five fatalities. One of them was an off-duty Raleigh police officer."

The shooter, a "white male juvenile," was apprehended shortly after 9:30 pm, according to Raleigh Police Lieutenant Jason Borneo.

Earlier, the mayor had reported that the shooter was being "contained in a residence in the area" by police.

Borneo stated that one victim was still in critical condition.

When asked about the shooting's motivation, he said it would "come to bear" in the coming days.

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, who attended the evening press conference, told journalists that: "Tonight terror has reached our doorstep."

"The nightmare of every community has come to Raleigh. This is a senseless, horrific, and infuriating act of violence that has been committed,” he added.

More than 34,000 people have died in shootings in the United States so far in 2022, with more than half of them committing suicide, as per the Gun Violence Archive website.

It is worth noting that mass shootings have shocked the country on numerous occasions, reigniting debate on gun control, a contentious cultural issue that has made little progress in US Congress.

See more: Gun violence, the leading cause of death among youth in the US