One person is dead and at least 11 others have been injured in a mass shooting that broke out during a party in western North Carolina, authorities said Sunday.

The shooting took place at about 12:45 am in Hickory, the Catawba County Sheriff's Office said.

One victim was in critical condition and 10 others were hospitalised in serious condition, the sheriff's office said.

The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the Hickory Police Department are investigating the shooting. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is also assisting in the case. No arrests have been made and the number of shots fired is not yet known.

The Sheriff's Department has not released the victims' names or ages.

Investigators said there were as many as 100 people attending a house party at a home on the street when one or more people discharged firearms, WSOC-TV reported.

Eyewitnesses told local reporters that many people attending the party were from nearby high schools and people began scattering, ducking for cover and running toward safety when shots erupted.

Major Aaron Turk with the sheriff's office said at a news conference that the street is usually quiet. (AP)