Ontario's police watchdog says it's investigating the circumstances surrounding a shooting involving police that left one man dead in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., over the weekend.

The Special Investigations Unit says local police officers in the northeast Ontario city were responding to a call for a disturbance at a convenience store Saturday night when a 37-year-old man was found in the area.

The SIU says the officers offered to help the man go elsewhere before they searched him and allegedly found a handgun.

Police allege an unspecified interaction then ensued and the man was shot by an officer.

The man died in hospital, and his name was not immediately released.

The SIU, which invokes its mandate any time a police officer has been involved in a serious injury, death or sexual assault, says six investigators are looking into the case.