Anderson County sheriff's deputies and investigators gather outside of Townville Elementary School after a shooting in Townville, South Carolina, US, September 28, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

Anderson County Sheriff's Office Captain Garland Major told reporters he did not know the relationship between the shooter and those injured at the school. The suspect was home schooled, authorities said.

Immediately after the shooting, armed officers guarded students as they were evacuated from the school and taken by bus to a nearby church, local media said. Television images showed police swarming the school, with some officers on the roof while others moved around the building.

Jamie Meredith, whose daughter is in kindergarten at Townville Elementary, told WYFF news that she panicked after getting word of the shooting. Her daughter is OK but described a scene of scared and crying children.

"I'm just scared," Meredith said through tears as she was interviewed by WYFF. "I don't even want her to go to school now."

About 280 students attend the school.

The incident was the latest in a series of shootings at US schools that have fuelled the debate about access to guns in America.

Earlier this month, a 14-year-old girl shot and wounded a fellow student at a rural Texas high school and then died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley is due to meet with law enforcement officials in the area this evening, Jones said.