A 42-year-old man shot and killed a shop employee in a shopping centre in the US town of Knoxville in the state of Tennessee on Thursday before being disarmed by police.

According to media reports, the gunman opened fire after an argument with the 29-year-old victim.

The shooting prompted a panic in the shopping centre, with hundreds of people fleeing.

The shooter held several other customers hostage for around an hour before police stormed the shop and disabled him with gunshot wounds to the leg and arm.