A security guard died after being shot at an Oregon hospital on Saturday, and the suspect was later killed by police in a nearby community, authorities said.

Police responded to reports that a person with at least one firearm fired shots inside Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Centre in Portland, the Portland Police Bureau said in a statement. Arriving officers searched for the shooter while working with hospital staff to treat the guard, who was transferred to another facility, where he later died.

Police from various agencies later tracked the suspect's vehicle to nearby Gresham, located about 15 miles (24 kilometers) east of Portland, where the vehicle was stopped. Officers shot and killed the suspect, and no police officers were injured, the release said.

The suspect's name has not been released. Police were investigating a motive for the shooting.

The hospital identified the slain security guard as Bobby Smallwood. In a statement, it said another staff member was shot in the incident and was in stable condition. That person has not been identified. No patients were injured in the incident, the hospital said.

In a news briefing at the hospital, Portland Police Bureau Sgt. Kevin Allen said he could not confirm that anyone else was hurt “related to the gunfire” at the hospital.

The initial emergency call from hospital security reported “someone visiting a patient verbally threatened hospital staff” before the shooting, OregonLive/The Oregonian reported. Witnesses said that they heard three to four shots fired.

"Words cannot express the profound grief we are experiencing,” Kathryn Correia, Legacy Health president and CEO, said in the hospital statement. "We offer our unwavering support to Bobby's loved ones, to our patients in our care, to the staff at Legacy Good Samaritan and to all of our employees and providers suffering today.”