A woman has been seriously injured after gunshots were heard near a Lidl supermarket in Blackburn.
Emergency services swooped on King Street, where they found the female unresponsive.
She has since been taken to hospital. No arrests have been made.
Police were called to the area at around 3pm on Sunday following reports of a 'shooting'.
A Lancashire Police spokesperson said: "Officers, including armed police, are currently in the King Street area of Blackburn following an incident this afternoon (Sunday).
"We were called at around 3pm to reports a woman had been found unresponsive on King Street, close to Lidl, following gunshots being heard in the area.
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"The woman was taken to hospital with serious injuries. No arrests have been made but an investigation to establish exactly what occurred, and who is responsible, is very much underway.
"We appreciate this will have caused a lot of worry in the community, but we have deployed significant additional resources, including armed officers, to carry out high visibility patrols in the area to provide reassurance to residents.
"Anyone with concerns or questions is welcome to speak to those officers. Anybody with information about the incident, or who witnessed the incident, is urged to contact us urgently on 101, quoting log 817 of May 17th."
A local shop owner in the area, who did not want to be named, told Daily Star Online: “All we've been told is that there's been a shooting, that's all that we know right now."
Witnesses told LancashireLive that they have seen at least seven police vehicles at the scene.
A police helicopter was also spotted at the scene, although it is understood that it has left.
