PHOENIX (Reuters) - At least three people were shot and wounded when gunfire erupted at a business complex in Phoenix on Wednesday, and authorities were combing the area for the suspected gunman, police said on Wednesday.

Phoenix Police spokesman James Holmes said the people who were shot were taken from the scene to a local hospital, and there was no immediate word on their condition.

Asked if there were any fatalities inside the building, in an office block at a busy Phoenix intersection, he said: "Not that I know of. No."

An Arizona Fox affiliate had reported that four people may have been shot, but Holmes put the number of people confirmed to have been shot at three.

Holmes said that it was not clear if the shooter was still in the area. An employee at a local McDonalds fast food restaurant said he saw at least 18 to 20 marked police cars and at least two ambulances arrive at the scene, as well as several unmarked police cars.

The incident comes at a time of heightened fears in the United States over mass shootings, after a gunman opened fire last month at a Connecticut school killing 20 children and six adults.

(Reporting by David Schwartz in Phoenix, Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles. Writing by Tim Gaynor, Editing by Cynthia Johnston)