Saudi Arabian security forces shot down a toy drone in the capital Riyadh on Saturday, a senior Saudi official and the state news agency said, after videos were posted online showing gunfire in a neighborhood where a royal palace is located.

A spokesman for the Riyadh police said forces at a checkpoint in the Khozama district identified the drone and "dealt with it according to their orders," state news said without specifying if there were any injuries or damage. 

A Saudi official said King Salman was not present at the palace at the time.

"At 1950 (1650 GMT) a security checkpoint in Khuzama neighbourhood of Riyadh spotted a small remote-controlled drone," the Saudi Press Agency reported.

SPA added that security forces shot down the drone and authorities were investigating the incident.

"Police shot it down. Authorities are investigating the incident."

The statement follows unconfirmed reports on social media of heavy gunfire around royal palaces.

But authorities firmly denied any major security breach.

Security around the royal palaces appears to have tightened in recent months as powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman oversees landmark social and economic reforms to prepare for a post-oil era, despite the risk of riling religious hardliners.

Saudi Arabia is also embroiled in a long running conflict in its southern neighbour Yemen, dubbed by the United Nations as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Last October a gunman shot dead two Saudi guards and wounded three others at the gate of the royal palace in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, according to the interior ministry.

Royal guards killed the gunman, identified by the ministry as a 28-year-old Saudi national armed with a Kalashnikov and three grenades.

Reuters and Bloomberg News contributed to this report.