The province’s police watchdog has been called in to investigate after a Durham Regional Police officer was shot and critically injured while responding to an armed person call in Oshawa Sunday morning.

The Special Investigations Unit says police were called to a residence on Cedar Street for a mental health call around 11 a.m.

“Soon after arriving, officers encountered a 27-year-old man who was armed with a knife,” the SIU said in a statement released Sunday night. “There was an interaction, and one officer discharged their firearm multiple times. The man was struck as was a police officer.”

“At this time, it does not appear that the man had a firearm,” according to the SIU.

According to Durham police, the officer was taken to a Toronto-area trauma centre in critical but stable condition, while the suspect was taken to a local hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries.

A large presence of Durham Regional Police officers could be seen outside Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre on Sunday afternoon. The hospital is one of two major trauma centres in Toronto.

The SIU said both individuals were in stable condition.

The SIU is an independent government agency that investigates the conduct of police officials that may have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault and/or the discharge of a firearm at a person.