The mayor of the US city of Jacksonville, in the state of Florida, Donna Deegan, has confirmed “several deaths” in what could be a mass shooting that occurred this Saturday and that has triggered a major police response.

The incident occurred around 1:00 p.m. between the Kings Road and Canal Street roads, in the east of the city and relatively close to Edward Waters University, police sources have reported to the local News4Jax channel.

In brief statements collected by the outlet, Deegan has indicated that the shooting could be extremely serious.

“This is unacceptable. One shooting is too much but these mass shootings are very difficult to take,” he said.

Jacksonville Police have deployed a helicopter to the area and a special intervention team (SWAT) to the scene of the incident.