Police in Sweden shot and killed a man with autism and Down syndrome who was holding a toy gun, according to reports.

Authorities said 20-year-old Eric Torell acted “threateningly” after police responded to reports of a man displaying a weapon to residents about 4 a.m. Thursday in downtown Stockholm, the UK’s Telegraph reported.

Torell died after being shot in the stomach.

“It has emerged that the object was some kind of toy. It has also emerged that more than one officer fired their service weapon,” Chief Prosecutor Martin Tidén said in a statement, according to The Local.

A neighbor awakened by the sound of gunfire said police were shouting at someone to lay down his weapon and lie on the ground.

Torell’s mother, Katarina Söderber, said the young man had been staying with his dad when he wandered out of the home with the toy, which she said looked like a “submachine gun.”

“Until now, it was just thrown in a pile of toys,” Söderber told Swedish newspaper Expressen.

The grieving mother denounced suggestions that Torell may have acted threateningly, describing her son as “the world’s sweetest and most lovable person.”

She said her son, whom she compared to “being like a 3-year-old,” could only utter a few words like “Mom” due to speech difficulties.

“It’s impossible to understand. He wouldn’t hurt a fly,” she said.

His father, Rickard Torell, told Expressen he searched for his son — whom he described as the “friendliest and most loving person in the world” — when he realized he was missing.

The Swedish Public Prosecutor’s Office said it has launched a probe into possible police misconduct.

“It is routine to initiate a preliminary investigation when police use their service weapon against a person, but at present no police officers are suspected of any crime,” Tidén said, The Local reported.

“The preliminary investigation is started in order for us to be able to take investigative measures.”

Stockholm Police Chief Ulf Johansson said the incident “is very tragic for everyone involved, and I understand and respect that what happened has caused a great feeling of upset.”