Photo: The Canadian Press

A man shot and killed by Toronto police had been carrying a pellet gun, Ontario's police watchdog said Friday as it investigated what took place.

Officers had been called to an area in the city's east end around 1 p.m. Thursday on reports of a person with a gun, police had said.

Toronto Police Chief James Ramer shared few details hours later, citing the investigation by the province's police watchdog, but said officers were confronted by an individual, and that person was now dead.

The Special Investigations Unit said Friday that a 27-year-old man was shot at by two officers and it was later discovered he was carrying a B.B. gun.

An autopsy is scheduled for Saturday.

The SIU said it has assigned four investigators and three forensic investigators to the case.

The watchdog's initial statement said that Toronto officers responded to the area of East Avenue and Maberley Crescent at 1:35 p.m.

A spokeswoman for Toronto police did not say why the force had not mentioned the pellet gun in its earlier statements.

She also had no comment on the discrepancy in timelines between the force and the SIU, instead directing all questions to the watchdog.

The SIU said it was seeking clarity on the timeline and noted that a pellet gun is considered a firearm.

The fatal shooting happened near William G. Davis Public School.

The Toronto District School Board said four schools near Maberley and Oxhorn Road were temporarily on lockdown due to a police investigation in the area.