Toronto police are investigating the first homicide of 2007 after a woman in her 60s was shot and killed on the doorstep of her Malvern home.

The woman was struck on Snowball Crescent, near Markham Road and Sheppard Avenue, at about 2:30 p.m. on Monday.

The victim was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital, police said.

Friends who gathered outside the two-storey house identified the woman as Jean Springer, the Toronto Star reported.

Nicknamed "Auntie Jean" to many, she was a mother of two adult sons and a devout religious woman who organized leadership events at the nearby Malvern Methodist Church, the Star reported.

Those who knew Springer were in disbelief.

"This is not the kind of woman who would be involved in something violent, which is the most ironic thing about it," Vilma Blenman told CTV's MairiAnna Bachynsky.

"I'm really in shock, my family's in shock," added Dee Henry. "You don't expect this type of thing to happen."

Further details are not yet known at this time.

"We're speaking to witnesses right now, we're appealing to witnesses in the area who saw anything strange or heard anything around that same time," Insp. Peter Yuen told reporters.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 416-808-4200 or Crime Stoppers at 416-222-TIPS (8477).

With a report from CTV's MairiAnna Bachynsky