MERCED - Authorities say a suspect stabbed five people on a university campus in central California before police shot and killed him.

University of California, Merced, spokeswoman Lorena Anderson said Wednesday that two of the victims were taken by helicopter to hospitals for treatment. She said the three other victims were treated locally.

Student Alex Lopez says there was an eerie, unsettled atmosphere on campus in the immediate aftermath of a stabbing.

Lopez said he was listening to a podcast on his way to class when there was a break in the talking around him and he heard a gunshot.

He said students gathered in groups to talk about what was happening, and many were left feeling frightened and uncertain. Lopez uploaded video to Instagram showing an ambulance and police vehicle racing down the street.

Anderson says the school remains on lockdown and classes have been canceled for the day.

Officials say the stabbings occurred shortly before 8 a.m.

The rural school is about 120 miles south of Sacramento.

Officials say an attacker was a male student.

University spokesman James Leonard said the identity of the assailant hasn't been confirmed. Leonard says campus officials are working to establish a timeline of events that unfolded Wednesday morning.

Phil Coba, a student government representative, says he has been told by numerous students that the stabbings started inside a classroom and continued outside before campus police shot and killed the attacker.

Coba says dining halls are providing free food to students and staff members who were on campus during the attack.