One woman was shot and another taken hostage by an armed man in downtown Toronto Wednesday morning.

Gunman stands behind hostage on Front St.

Gunman stands behind hostage on Front St.

The man was killed around 8:50 a.m. by a police sharpshooter.

Police cordoned off an area around Union Station shortly after 8 a.m. when the man held a female hostage at gunpoint as they stood on the sidewalk in front of the station.

The man alternately pointed his firearm at police officers and at his hostage's head as the officers attempted to talk to him.

The hostage-taking occurred as paramedics arrived at a food court at 100 Wellington Street West following reports that another woman had been shot in the head.

The incident unfolded at the height of the morning rush hour, as thousands of commuters streamed out of the train station and along the sidewalks around the downtown terminal.

Police cordoned off the area around the station and set up barricades as pedestrians stopped to watch the drama unfold.

The hostage-taker was agitated and moving erratically before he was hit by a single shot from a police officer.

The man dropped immediately to the ground after the shot was fired. Paramedics who attended him covered his body with a sheet.

His hostage appeared to be uninjured.