A release from Ontario Special Investigations Unit (SIU) director Tony Loparco concludes that the 2016 fatal police shooting of an Ottawa man with a history of mental illness in front of a Toronto home, was justified.

Devon LaFleur, 30, was shot multiple times by Toronto police officers in a confrontation outside a Toronto house on Bayview Avenue south of Steeles Avenue East on the night of March 4, 2016.

"There are no reasonable grounds to lay criminal charges against any Toronto Police Service officer," says the SIU release, which does not name LaFleur.

LaFleur's family told CBC News that he suffered from schizophrenia.

Tipped off by Ottawa police

Toronto police were looking for LaFleur that night after receiving a tip from Ottawa police, who told them that he had committed an armed robbery in Ottawa, may have stolen a pellet pistol which closely resembled a real firearm, and was headed to the GTA.

Acting on information from a friend of LaFleur's, they arrived at the address on Bayview Avenue as LaFleur and his friend exited a taxi.

LaFleur began shouting "what are you going to do?" at officers and "appeared to be holding a black handgun at his right side," according to the release. Officers began yelling for LaFleur to drop his weapon.

Police and the province's Special Investigations Unit on the scene after LaFleur's shooting in March, 2016. (Mehrdad Nazarahari/CBC)

A standoff between four officers and LaFleur ensued, with both yelling back and forth, until his friend ran up to try and wrestle the gun from his hand. He pushed her off.

The release says LaFleur then raised the arm in which he held what appeared to be a gun and pointed it at an officer. Three of the officers began shooting at him, hitting him eight times.

He was later pronounced dead at Sunnybrook Hospital.

LaFleur was holding an air gun

The weapon in LaFleur's hand turned out to be a CO2 pistol — a kind of air gun — but Loparco argues that has no bearing on whether the shooting was justified.

"It makes no difference that the man was in fact in possession of a CO2 pistol, and that the officers were aware of that possibility. They did not have the luxury of waiting to be fired upon to confirm the nature of the weapon in question," he wrote.

Devon LaFleur's family said that he had a history of mental illness and suffered from bipolar disorder. (Facebook )

"As soon as the man exited the vehicle, he posed a threat to the officers present. He was in possession of a weapon that was visually indistinguishable from a firearm," wrote Loparco.

The SIU is a civilian oversight agency that investigates death, serious injury, or allegations of sexual assault in incidents involving the police.