Three students have been killed and six people injured in a high school shooting in the US, according to officials.

Oakland County Sheriff’s Office in Michigan said the attack happened on Tuesday afternoon at Oxford High School in Oxford Township, a community of about 22,000 people 30 miles (48km) north of Detroit.

A 15-year-old was arrested and a handgun was recovered.

One of the injured people was a teacher, authorities said.

School Shooting-Michigan
Authorities say a 15-year-old opened fire at his school, killing three students and wounding six other people (AP)

Oakland County Undersheriff Mike McCabe said at a news conference that he did not know what the assailant’s motives were for the attack.

Officers responded at around 12:55pm to a flood of 911 calls about an active shooter at the school, Mr McCabe said. Authorities arrested the suspect at the school and recovered a semi-automatic handgun and several clips.

“Deputies confronted him, he had the weapon on him, they took him into custody,” Mr McCabe said, declining to share more details about the arrest.

The authorities did not immediately release the names of the suspect or victims.

Tim Throne, the superintendent of Oxford Community Schools, said he did not know yet know the victims’ names or whether their families had been contacted.

“I’m shocked. It’s devastating,” the superintendent told reporters.

The school was placed on lockdown after the attack, with some children sheltering in locked classrooms while officers searched the premises. They were later taken to a nearby grocery store to be picked up by their parents.

Isabel Flores told WJBK-TV that she and other students heard gunshots and saw another student bleeding from the face.

They then ran from the area through the rear of the school, said Isabel, 15.

Mr McCabe said investigators would be looking through social media posts for any evidence of a possible motive.

Robin Redding said her son had stayed at home on Tuesday. She said he had heard threats of a shooting at the school.

“This couldn’t be just random,” she said.

Ms Redding did not provide specifics about what her son had heard, but she expressed concern about school safety in general.

“Kids just, like they’re just mad at each other at this school,” she said.