SAULT STE. MARIE -- Police shot a man after a woman was stabbed at a west-end home in Sault Ste. Marie late Saturday.

The province's Special Investigations Unit is probing the incident, which took place when city police were called to a two-storey residence at about 11:40 p.m..

The SIU probes all incidents involving police and civilians which result in serious injury, death or sexual assault.

The man and woman were taken to Sault Area Hospital for treatment, but the severity of their injuries, and their names, were not released.

Rhonda McGonegal, who helps maintain several properties in the area, said the couple have been together four-and-a-half years.

Neighbouring residents said the woman was stabbed in the leg and the man was shot in the neck.

Police tape marked off the front of the home Sunday. A police officer secured the scene until SIU investigators arrived late Sunday morning.

Five investigators and two forensic investigators are probing the incident.

City police are not commenting on the incident and are referring questions to the provincial agency. A SIU spokesperson could not be reached.

"I can't say anything," said Staff Sgt. Jane Martynuck.

Elliot Proulx, who lives across the street, said his father reported hearing what he thought was one .22-calibre gunshot at about midnight.

He saw "no movement at all" from a man being taken on a stretcher from the home's second-floor apartment.

"He was still, still, still," said Proulx.

Another resident who has lived on the street for 12 years saw two ambulances and four cruisers outside the home late Saturday.

He also saw a "big" man who "wasn't moving" removed from the home.

"If there was a gunshot in that house, I didn't hear it," said the man, who didn't want to be named.

A neighbouring resident, formerly of Toronto, knows about the SIU's work from his time in the provincial capital.

The man, who declined to be named, said he was familiar with most of his neighbours, but knew little about the occupants where the shooting took place. He never saw anyone entering or exiting the home.

"We know most people around here, (but) not that house for some reason," he said.