Five local schools were placed under lockdown after several 911 calls about a man walking with a rifle in Canadian city

Investigators have recovered a pellet gun from the scene where Toronto police shot and killed a man suspected of carrying a rifle, an incident that prompted five nearby schools to be placed under precautionary lockdowns.

Police went to the Scarborough neighbourhood on Thursday after receiving several 911 calls about a man walking with a rifle and located him shortly after, Ontario province’s special investigations unit (SIU) said in a statement on Friday. The man, 27, was pronounced dead about 20 minutes later.

Decision setting parole eligibility at 25 years could give hope to at least 18 mass killers serving multiple life sentences

Canada’s supreme court has ruled that life sentences without the chance of parole are both “cruel” and unconstitutional, in a landmark decision that could give more than dozen mass killers who committed “inherently despicable acts” the faint hope of release in the future.

The court unanimously determined on Friday that sentencing killers to lengthy prison terms with little hope of freedom risked bringing the “administration of justice into disrepute”.

Officers responded to reports of a man in his late teens or early 20s carrying a firearm in Scarborough’s Port Union area

Police in Toronto have shot and killed a man after he was spotted carrying a rifle near an elementary school, prompting an emergency lockdown for hundreds of students.

Officers responded to reports of a man, described as being in his late teens or early 20s, carrying a firearm in Scarborough’s Port Union area of the Canadian city about 1pm.