The recent shooting death of a 16-year-old has become another part of the narrative that portrays Malmö as a dangerous war zone where "migrant gangs" are wreaking havoc.

The southern city of 350,000 has become shorthand among news outlets with a strong anti-immigration bent for what happens when too many Muslims are allowed to immigrate to Western countries.

The conservative American website Daily Wire, for example, just ran a story on how "Muslim migration made Malmo, Sweden a crime capital."

A recent headline in the UK tabloid Express suggested that "thugs" had turned the entire city into a "no-go zone," areas where police are said to be unable to uphold the law.

Malmö police, however, say there's absolutely no truth to the idea of "no-go zones."

"It's a question that appears every now and then," police spokesperson Lars Förstell told BuzzFeed News. "It has never been true."

Förstell also said that while violent crime is certainly a problem, there is "nothing special about right now," and that there is no evidence any of it has to do with refugees. In fact, it appears linked to a cycle of violence among local gangs that dates back to 2008 — many years before the migration crisis.