A gunman has killed two people and injured several others in a mass shooting at a cinema in the US state of Louisiana.

Witnesses described a man armed with a handgun opening fire at around 19:30 local time (01:30 GMT), 20 minutes into a film screening of Trainwreck at the Grand Theatre in Lafayette.

After killing two people and injuring seven, the gunman killed himself at the scene.

The identity of the attacker is know to police, who described him as a 58-year-old white male, but did not release any further details.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, who arrived at the scene late on Thursday, told reporters:

“We will get through this. We are a resilient community.

“This is an awful night for Lafayette. This is an awful night for Louisiana. This is an awful night for the United States”

The shooting comes after President Barack Obama admitted that the failure to pass “common sense” gun laws in the US was the “biggest frustration” of his presidency.