Toronto police shot and killed a man who was walking down a street carrying a gun in a city neighborhood on Thursday afternoon, an incident that prompted five nearby schools to be placed under precautionary lockdowns, city officials said.

Officers responding to a report of an armed man in the area fired after the gunman confronted them, Toronto Police Chief James Ramer said at a media briefing. He declined to give further details, citing an ongoing investigation.

Earlier on Twitter, Toronto police said officers had fired and the suspect, described as a male in his late teens or early 20s, was injured.

The scene where the man was shot by Toronto police is about 130 meters from the William G Davis Junior Public School, which was the last of the five schools to emerge from a lockdown.

All the school lockdowns were lifted after a couple of hours, according to the Toronto District School Board.

The incident occurred days after a gunman in Texas killed 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school. The Texas shooting fed concern about gun violence worldwide.