Houston, Sep 1 (IANS) Five people are dead and at least 21 people injured in an active shooting in the Midland-Odessa area, US state of Texas, Odessa Police Department said.

According to Odessa Police Department, one shooter was killed and "the threat has been contained", Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday.

Odessa Police Department earlier sent a Facebook alert on the active shooting, saying "At this time there are multiple gunshot victims. The suspect just hijacked a US mail carrier truck." It also urged people to get off the road and "use extreme caution."

Odessa is about 30 km southwest of Midland, which is a city in western Texas. Part of the Permian Basin area, it is an oil industry centre.

--IANS rt/