The police have shot and injured a man who had made an unauthorised entry at a Mpumalanga school  and vandalised the institution's property.

The incident was confirmed by the provincial department of education after the video clip of the incident surfaced of WhatsApp on Thursday.

In the two-minute-and-fifteen seconds video clip, the man can be seen hurling a brick towards the school building, smashing windows in the process.

While he is vandalising the school property, a police van can be seen driving into the yard and stopping a few metres from the man. The pupils at the Mmametlake Secondary School then start screaming, while the man unleashes the bricks on the police van, hitting the front passenger's side window.

The police van then reverses and drives towards the man at high speed while the doors of the vehicle are opened, resulting in the officer occupying the front passenger's seat falling off the vehicle.

When the police officer who was driving the vehicle alights the bakkie to check on the injured officer, the intruder pelts the brick towards him and the officer responds by firing what sounds to be three shots at the man.

"The department is concerned about an incident that took place at Mmametlake Secondary School in Dr JS Moroka Local Municipality where an intruder who is alleged to be a former learner wanted to see the school principal," said provincial education spokesperson Jasper Zwane.

"It is alleged that when told that he could not see the principal, he became violent and started throwing bricks destroying windows of the school.

"Police were called in to assist, and at the arrival of the police the intruder attacked them until he was shot in the leg. He was then apprehended and taken to Mmametlake Hospital.

"This incident was recorded on a video that has gone viral . The Department will send a team to the school tomorrow, 08 March 2019 to investigate the circumstances that may have caused this and to start a process to render counselling to the affected learners and teachers," he said.