TORONTO, Cananda – Eyewitnesses say terrified commuters ran for their lives when Toronto police opened fire on a downtown subway platform Friday evening.

The shooting occurred around eight o’clock at the busy Queen Street station at the Eaton Centre shopping mall.

The Special Investigations Unit said officers were investigating a man on subway car when there was an “interaction” and the man was subsequently shot and wounded.

A statement the SIU issued late Friday night said the man was taken to hospital and was in stable condition, but offered no further details.

Eyewitness Kevin Chan told reporters it was a frightening and chaotic scene onboard the subway train.

“It was like people panicking, screaming and then people saying ‘get off’… some people were crying,” he said.

Other witnesses said several shots were fired after police ordered a man, who appeared to be in his early twenties, to drop a weapon. These accounts, however, hav not been confirmed by police or the SIU.

The Yonge Street subway line remained shutdown Saturday morning from Bloor Street to Union Station, with shuttle buses ferrying commuters between the two destinations.

The SIU, which is Ontario’s police watch dog, said it had assigned nine investigators and four forensic investigators to the case.

The unit is automatically called in to review cases where police actions result in injury or death.