Seven people have been killed in a shooting near a university campus in Santa Barbara, California. Seven others were also wounded.

It happened on Friday night in the neighbourhood of Isla Vista next to the University of California when a gunman drove by shooting out of his car.

An eyewitness described the moment it happened: “I just thought it was an like an airsoft gun or something, so I was like… I was, like: ‘Hey, what’s up?’ And I turned around and I started walking the other way. And he… and then, like, he shot.”

Police confirmed the attacker was amongst the dead and said he had exchanged fire with officers before crashing into a parked car. He was found with a bullet wound to the head, but it wasn’t immediately clear whether he had been shot by police or committed suicide.