A man in his thirties is dead after being shot by Montreal police Thursday morning.

It's the fourth fatal shooting involving the city's officers in eight months.

Police said at about 7:30 a.m. they responded to acall about a man who was possibly suicidal in the Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough in Montreal's East End.

When they arrived on Nicolet Street near Ontario Street, police said the man was holding what might have been a knife and making threatening gestures towards police.

According to police, an officer then shot the man.

"Our paramedics found a man, in his 30s, on the ground with one bullet in his thorax -- no sign of life," said Robert Lamle of Urgences-Santé.

The incident was on Nicolet Street near Ontario Street. (Radio-Canada)"He was declared dead at the scene."

Lamle said two women at the scene were taken to hospital to be treated for shock. He said he believes one of the women is the man's spouse.

A large security perimeter was been set up in the area, and the Sûreté du Québec will handle the investigation.

Quebec law calls for another police force to investigate shootings that involve officers, and the provincial force did not immediately offer many details about the incident.

Fourth fatal shooting in less than a year

This is the fourth person shot and killed since last spring during Montreal police interventions, in three separate operations.

The incidents sparked debates about whether whether more police should carry stun-guns, whether officers are adequately trained to handle people suffering from mental illness, and whether police shootings should be investigated by other police.

A fatal shooting last June involving Montreal police that left two people dead made national headlines and prompted an angry anti-police march in the city.

Police gunfire struck Patrick Limoges, a passerby on his way to work at a nearby hospital, and Mario Hamel, a mentally ill man who lived in a downtown shelter. The police department said they were called as a knife-wielding Hamel tossed garbage in the city's downtown area.

Hamel, 40, was shot after police had apparently cornered him, ordered him to drop his weapon and pepper-sprayed him.

The 36-year-old Limoges was across the street when he was hit by a police bullet.

In January, police fatally shot a 34-year-old homeless man named Farshad Mohammadi during an altercation at a metro station.

With files from the Canadian Press