Ontario's Special Investigations Unit is looking into the circumstances surrounding a fatal shooting by Toronto police Monday in the city's port lands. (Tony Smyth/CBC)

Friends of a man shot dead by police after a car chase early Monday said he was harmless even though he suffered from mental health problems.

Wieslaw Duda, 50, a father of two, was shot in the city's port lands area near downtown after being chased by police.

Duda had run several red lights in the city's east end. Police chased him and cornered his car near the waterfront at the intersection of Cherry Street and Commissioners Street.

Police opened fire on the father of two after he clipped an officer with his car.

CBC's John Lancaster spoke to Duda's friends and family Monday. They confirmed Duda was taking medication for schizophrenia, but said he did not deserve to be shot by police.

"People are too anxious to pull a gun you know when they're trained to disarm people like that," said neighbour Bill Teppo.

At the scene, one investigator snapped pictures of Duda's sedan. The windshield is smashed, and the driver's side door has multiple bullet holes.

At Duda's Mississauga apartment building, neighbour Magdalena Mazurek said she couldn't believe what happened.

"It's horrible, it's really horrible, because he was a really nice guy," said Mazurek. However, she said her neighbour did suffer from mental health problems.

"Schizophrenic. He was on pills, he was medicated always, and he was harmless."

The province's Special Investigations Unit investigates circumstances involving police and civilians which have resulted in serious injury or death, and determines whether police actions were justified.

An autopsy will be performed on Duda' body Tuesday.