At least one person has been killed and five wounded in a shooting at the headquarters of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) in central Moscow, Russian media say.

A gunman who opened fire with an automatic weapon at the entrance of the building was killed by an armed officer, Interfax news agency reports. Security forces cordoned off the area and moved bystanders into buildings.

The shooting came hours after President Putin’s annual press conference. Details of the incident, which began shortly after 18:00 (15:00 GMT), remain unclear.

The FSB denied earlier reports suggesting there were three gunmen in the attack on its headquarters. The unconfirmed reports said two had been killed in the lobby while the third ran off to a nearby building where he was later killed in a shootout with police.

One FSB officer was killed and at least other officers were reported seriously wounded.

Russian investigators have opened criminal proceedings into the attempted murder of law enforcement officers. They are looking into whether the attack was timed to coincide with Vladimir Putin’s four-hour press conference, which ended during the afternoon.

The attack took place on the eve of security services day — a special holiday for security staff — in Russia, and Mr Putin was addressing a meeting at the time to mark the occasion.

Some footage posted on social media appeared to capture the sound of gunshots in the area while other video showed armed men running away from the FSB headquarters on Lubyanka Square. Witnesses described seeing special forces armed with automatic weapons arriving in the area. Five ambulances were also seen leaving the scene. «I saw a member of the traffic police running down the road, hiding behind vehicles,» one eyewitness told Reuters news agency.