Investigators have recovered a shotgun from the spot where Toronto police shot and killed a man suspected of carrying a rifle, an incident that caused five nearby schools to be closed preventively.
Police headed to the Scarborough neighborhood on Thursday after receiving several 911 calls about a man walking with a rifle and located him shortly afterwards, the Ontario Provincial Special Investigations Unit (SIU) said on Friday. in a statement. The 27-year-old man was pronounced dead about 20 minutes later.
Toronto Police Chief James Ramer told reporters that officers responding to the calls confronted the man, but had refused to give further details, citing an ongoing investigation. That was after police said on Twitter that officers had shot and injured the suspect.
The incident came days after a gunman in Texas killed 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school. The Texas shooting has raised concerns about growing gun violence.
Mass shootings are rare in Canada, where gun control laws are stricter than in the United States.
The investigation is ongoing and a post-mortem examination is scheduled for Saturday, said the SIU, which is an independent government agency tasked with investigating the conduct of officials, including police officers.
The SIU aims to complete its research within 120 days, but the time may vary from case to case.
The rate of homicides with firearms in Canada is 0.5 per 100,000 people, well below the US rate of 4.12, according to a 2021 analysis by the Institute of Health Metrics and Assessment of the University of Washington.