Oikos University Shooting.
Police officers walk on Edgewater Drive after a shooting at Oikos University in Oakland, California April 2, 2012. Reuters

At least seven people were killed and three others injured when a gunman opened fire at a Christian college in California.

Five people were killed on the spot and two others were declared dead at the hospital after what was described as one of the deadliest campus shootings in the US in five years.

The shooter has been identified as 43-year-old Korean-American One Goh, a former student of the Oikos University. The suspect later surrendered at a supermarket in nearby Alameda city.

According to the police, he acted alone and used a handgun, but the motive behind the shooting still remains unknown to the investigators.

"As you may have heard, the suspected shooter in today's deadly shooting at Oikos University on Edgewater Drive is in custody, and it appears he acted alone," said a brief statement from the Oakland city administration.

"We haven't interviewed him yet, so we're still trying to put those pieces together," said Oakland police chief Howard Jordan in a news conference.

The gunman opened fire after entering the reception area of the college mid- morning before entering one of the classrooms.

"Get in line and I'm going to kill you all is what he said this morning, my sister told me. They thought he was joking at first," the Reuters has quoted one of the relatives of the eye witness as saying.

Oikos University conducts classes in theology, music and nursing and is under private management.

"No American mayor wants to have this situation. This is the kind of incident that hurts the whole community," said Oakland Mayor Jean Quan reacting to the incident.

It is the deadliest school shooting in the US since the Virginia Tech School shooting which killed 32 people in 2007.