At least three children have been killed in a gun attack at an elementary school in the US state of Tennessee, according to media reports. The US broadcaster NBC and the "New York Times" reported on Monday, citing a hospital spokesman, that three children injured by gunfire in the attack in Nashville had been taken to a children's hospital and pronounced dead there. The attacker is also dead after an exchange of fire with the police, the authorities said. The fire department had previously reported several injuries.

Details of the process and the background to the crime were not initially known. The school is said to be a private Christian institution.

Fatal gun attacks are a regular occurrence in the United States. Schools are also often affected. Last May, an 18-year-old shot dead 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in the small Texas town of Uvalde.