Four students have been wounded in a shooting incident at a high school in southwestern Ohio, police officials say.

A 14-year-old boy pulled out a gun in the cafeteria of Madison High School on Monday and opened fire, striking two students who were taken to hospital, authorities said.

Two other students were also injured, possibly by shrapnel, law enforcement officials noted, adding all the four students received non-life-threatening injuries.

The shooter, identified as James Austin Hancock, ran away after the shooting, but was later arrested and placed in police custody.

He was charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of felonious assault, inducing panic and making terroristic threats in the Butler County juvenile court.

“No students can be picked up at this time as we are not allowing anyone in or out of the buildings,” said a Facebook post written by Madison Local Schools.

It added that the school and other local schools were placed in lockdown for several hours.

Middletown Division Police Chief Rodney Muterspaw described the lockdown as a precautionary measure.

“We have received no threats towards anyone at Middletown Schools,” Muterspaw said. "Our prayers are with everyone in Madison during this tragic time, I just cleared the scene and it was hectic."

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), firearms kill more than 33,000 people in the US every year, a number that includes accidental discharge, murder and suicides.

On December 14, 2012, twenty children and six adults were fatally shot by Adam Lanza, the gunman who later killed himself at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in the town of Newtown in the US state of Connecticut.