The Special Investigations Unit has been called in following an early morning police involved shooting in downtown Toronto.

The SIU says around 1:30 a.m. police came across a stolen vehicle in the area of Queen Street West and Vanauley Street, just west of Spadina Avenue.

As the vehicle made its way north onto Vanauley and down a lane way, it attempted to make a U-turn and became involved in a crash with a police cruiser.

“There was an interaction and one officer discharged his firearm multiple times,” said the SIU. “The man was struck one time.”

An eyewitness tells CityNews they were awoken by the sounds of sirens and three to four gunshots near a lane way that connects Vanauley Street to Cameron Street at around the same time of the incident.

The SIU says a 43-year-old man was taken to hospital for treatment of a gunshot wound.

His injuries are said to be serious but non-life threatening.

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.