B.C.'s Independent Investigations Office is looking into the police-involved death of a man who was allegedly threatening himself with a knife Tuesday morning in East Vancouver.

The investigations office said in a statement that police used a Taser on the distraught man after he had repeatedly stabbed himself outside a private home.

The man, Alton Cuyugan, a resident of the home, was taken into custody and transported to hospital.

Investigators have put a canopy over the scene where Alton Cuyugan was confronted by police. (CBC)

Cuyugan died in hospital.

"At this point, we do not know what this man died from," said IIO spokesman Owen Court. "It's very, very early in the investigation, so we'll certainly be working with the coroner's service with this and hope to learn that from them."

With files from the CBC's Meera Bains