Three offenders arrested after a dramatic manhunt shutdown two Auckland schools

Armed offenders at Otahuhu College. Photo / Supplied

Otahuhu College principal Neil Watson has expressed relief after a dramatic manhunt ended with the arrest of three offenders.

Otahuhu and King's College were both placed into lockdown this morning when a suspicious vehicle was spotted and failed to stop for police in Mangere.

The vehicle was observed by the police Eagle helicopter approaching Otahuhu College at around 9.30am and three offenders entered school grounds.

"Two offenders were quickly apprehended. However a third offender remained outstanding for a period," Counties Manukau Police Inspector Matt Srhoj said.

"Armed police, who happened to be nearby, came to assist as a precaution, while Otahuhu College and nearby King's College were placed in lockdown also as a precaution while efforts were made to locate the third offender."

He was later found hiding in a hallway at the school. No weapons were located on the individual.

The schools are no longer under lockdown.

Watson told media the school would be speaking to the Ministry of Education, but his initial impressions were the school's procedures had gone "reasonably well".

A proper debrief would be coming and we will "make sure what we have done well we embed, and what we need to work on, we work on", he said.

Students who had not already been picked up would be looked after in the school's library, he said

The last offender was found in a cupboard in a hallway, and Watson said the school was very old with a long history and "lots of nooks and crannies".

"I was very impressed all round ... staff and students did exactly as they were supposed to," he said.

"We kept in contact with families as often as we could."

Police found the third offender hiding in the school hallway. Photo / Supplied

Auckland nurse Anita Taani was among the worried parents picking up her 17-year-old daughter.

She said her daughter had been scared during the lockdown and told to lie on the floor.

Taani had left work early to pick up her daughter and check if she and her friends were safe.

"We just want to take them home," she said.

Earlier, Herald reporter Tristram Clayton described tense scenes at nearby King's College, with armed police rushing in, before there was a sense of relief when an empty ambulance left the scene and students were let back into the school grounds.

During the lockdown, a 16-year-old King's College student phoned Newstalk ZB's Leighton Smith from the school's chemistry lab.

He said students had been told a dangerous group was roaming the grounds.

While a few students were worried, most did their best to remain calm.

"The school told us just lock all the rooms, and go into the lockdown procedures that we have practised before," he said.

"We heard helicopters circling the school. There was a SWAT team roaming the school as well.

Another student emailed the Herald to say students had been told to keep quiet.

"We are in the classroom under the desks and we are safe at the moment. We are all messaging our friends and family," he said.

He said 24 people had sheltered in his classroom.

"We've [been] told nothing official from our maths teacher but my father, who is at the golf course, is also in lockdown."

A woman with two brothers attending King's College also talked of her fear that a US-style shooting was happening at the school.

She said one of her brothers had hidden in a room and the other kept under his desk.

They had been told not to use their mobile devices, but managed to get a short message through.

A spokesman for the Royal Auckland Golf Club next door said police had also asked them at the time to get everybody off their course.