Forensic investigators work in front of a Chestermere house where a man was shot to death. Forensic investigators work in front of a Chestermere house where a man was shot to death. (Mike Spenrath/CBC)

RCMP in the town of Chestermere, east of Calgary, say they found a man dead on the steps of his home Tuesday night.

The man was shot just before midnight in the Westlake subdivision where he lived with his family. Police said the shooting was not random and the man was targeted.

"The victim is known to police," the RCMP said in a release Wednesday.

A neighbour in the newer community, who asked not to be identified, said she thinks she saw the shooter, but couldn't identify him because she didn't see his face and he was dressed in black.

"We woke up last night at about midnight to gunfire," she said. "And ran to the window and saw the guy take off."

She ventured outside, but didn't see anything unusual, she said.

"As we were heading back inside the house we heard a woman screaming: 'My brother's been shot.'"

She said she knows most of her neighbours, but not that family.

Police said they searched unsuccessfully for the suspect and had no one in custody.

The homicide was the third shooting in the Calgary area in 14 hours. A man suffered a minor gunshot wound in southeast Calgary around noon Wednesday, while a pedestrian was shot in the face in downtown Calgary on Tuesday night. Both shooting victims were taken to hospital.