A man barricaded himself in a downtown alleyway Wednesday, pointed his gun at officers and within an hour he was dead.

At 12:29 p.m. officers spotted a wanted man whom they believed was carrying a gun, said Const. Sarah Diamond. They ran after him, which led them to an alley off Sherbourne St. near Carlton St.

A standoff ensued as a tactical squad mobilized while police closed a stretch of Sherbourne St. on the bright, cold day. They were stationed on both sides of the alley, with an armed vehicle blocking the entrance off Bleecker St. to the east.

At 1:45 p.m., tactical officers were walking a man out of the alley when two loud booms erupted. It seemed to catch them off guard as they immediately threw the man to the ground and protected him.

A few minutes later, police came rushing out of the alley to put a man, dressed in dark clothes, into an ambulance. But paramedics didn’t move the truck.

Shortly thereafter, the man was pronounced dead, according to EMS spokesperson Kim McKinnon. It wasn’t clear if police shot the man, or if he shot himself during the standoff.

The province’s Special Investigations Unit was called in to investigate the circumstances surrounding the man’s death, but would only offer a vague update that didn’t clarify how the man was shot. Toronto police also declined to say how the man was shot, citing the SIU’s involvement.

The SIU assigned six investigators and three forensic investigators to the case. None were talking at the scene.

The SIU is an arm’s length agency that investigates reports involving police where there has been death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault.

The street remained closed for several hours, with the ambulance, with the man inside, still in the same spot.

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