"Officers currently working a shooting at Melbourne Square Mall. Officers have control of [the] situation, mall temporarily closed," a message on Melbourne Police Twitter account read.
In a message posted 11 minutes later, law enforcement officials confirmed containing the shooter.
However, media reports emerged later claiming that the gunman injured two people and then turned the gun on himself before being confronted by police.
The mall has been placed on temporary lockdown.
Gun violence has become more frequent in the United States, with public shootings taking place every two months, according to Harvard research published last October. In the most tragic incident, 20 first-grade students and six adults were killed by a lone shooter in Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut on December 14, 2012.
