A man in his 20s shot dead by Toronto police at a fast-food outlet in the city's northwest end Sunday night was killed as undercover officers tried to arrest him, authorities said.

The unnamed man was shot in the head at around 9 p.m. He was taken to Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre where he was pronounced dead.

A report from the scene said he had suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head. There was no word on whether other shots were fired, but no one else appeared to have been hurt.

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The violence erupted outside a Burger King restaurant near Keele Street and Wilson Avenue.

The province's Special Investigations Unit, which probes all police-civilian interactions resulting in death or serious injury said there was an "altercation" as police in unmarked cars closed in to arrest the man, whom they had been tailing.

Why he was being sought by police was not clear, but the circumstances will be examined by two parallel investigations: One by the SIU and one by police, which will encompass events leading up to the shooting.

The Pontiac Sunfire being driven by the man was towed away for forensic investigation, and much of the immediate area was still sealed off Monday morning.