At least eight people have been killed and several are injured after a gunman opened fire at a university in the Russian city of Perm, officials have said.

The shooter at Perm State University has since been “neutralised”, according to the independent Russian news agency Interfax.

Students and staff of the university locked themselves in rooms during the incident, and the university urged those who could leave the campus to do so.

The Tass news agency quoted police as saying that some students jumped out of windows of a building during the incident.

It is not immediately clear whether those reported wounded sustained injuries from the shooting or from trying to escape the building.

The Russian Investigative Committee said the suspect had been identified and that he was “wounded” while being arrested.

Forensic investigators have been sent to the university to assist with the police investigation.

Perm is about 700 miles (1,127km) east of Moscow, with a population of about one million. The university enrols some 12,000 students.

Russia has strict restrictions on civilian firearm ownership, but some categories of guns are available for purchase for hunting, self-defence or sport, once would-be owners have passed tests and met other requirements.