Pupils at Malmö Latinskola told Swedish media that police officers had rushed into the school with their weapons drawn, and that two people had been carried out from the school’s main entrance, and taken away in an ambulance.

“The police came in with weapons drawn and asked everyone to evacuate the school,” one pupil told Swedish state broadcaster SVT. “But we don’t know what had happened.”

Police were called to the school shortly after 5pm, after which it was cordoned off, and surrounded by police cars and ambulances.

According to the Aftonbladet newspaper, police were called to the scene to deal with a case of “ongoing deadly violence”.

“We do not have a full picture of the situation. This is something we are working on now,” Rickard Lundqvist, from the Malmö police told the Sydsvenskan newspaper. “Before we properly understand what has happened we do not want to give any more details.”

Fredrik Hemmensjö, the school’s headmaster, told Aftonbladet that the situation was “absolutely terrible”.

“All I know is that the school is facing deadly violence. I wish I know more,” he said from the city of Gothenberg, where he was away on a visit.