(CNN) A 20-year-old man with Down syndrome was carrying a toy gun when he was shot dead by Swedish police in Stockholm on Thursday, according to CNN affiliate Expressen.

Eric Torell was diagnosed with both autism and Down syndrome and could not verbally communicate, his mother told Expressen.

Torell's family reported him missing after he ran away from home, something he had been known to do before. He had a plastic toy gun with him, which "looked a little like a submachine gun" and was given to him as a gift, said his mother, Katarina Söderberg.

Eric Torell's mother, Katarina Söderberg, and older sister, Elsa.

Early Thursday morning, the police received reports of a person with a gun in the Vasastan district. After arriving on the scene, they shouted at Torell to "lay down his weapon and lie on the ground," an eyewitness told Expressen.

Police officers are then believed to have fired at Torell, according to Expressen. Torell was taken to the hospital, but could not be saved.

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