Two people have died and multiple others were injured in a stabbing at a church in California where the homeless had been brought in to shelter from cold weather, police said.

The stabbing happened at Grace Baptist Church in San Jose, where police said on Twitter that no services were taking place.

"Unhoused individuals were brought into the church to get them out of the cold," the department tweeted.

Officers added it was unclear exactly how many people were wounded, but some of the injuries were life-threatening.

San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo initially tweeted that a suspect had been arrested, but police later said no arrest could be confirmed.

KTVU-TV reported that a 22-year-old man was apprehended in the stabbing.

Video shown by news outlets near the church showed several ambulances and police cars, and police tape and traffic cones cordoning off the road.