Several neighbours recalled hearing a loud gunshot in the Windeyer Street unit at around 7.30pm, shortly before police responded to reports of a disturbance and found the man with serious injuries.

Sadly, he was unable to be saved.

Police offered support to a woman found inside the unit, and no one had been taken into custody by Friday afternoon as investigations continued.

One neighbour who lives in the unit below said the man who died was "a really nice bloke," and it was a dim day for the street and wider community. He said he also heard a "bang, bang" echo through the building on Thursday night.

Paul Hagedoorn, who lives is the next unit block to the crime scene, said he was watching television at about 7.30pm when he was interrupted by a loud conversation in the neighbouring block, but could not decipher the voices' genders.

Minutes later, he was left shaking and in shock at the sound of a "very loud gunshot" and said he instinctively phoned police.

Officers arrived 20 minutes later to assess the scene.

The unit block remained taped off on Friday morning while detectives and forensic officers removed what appeared to be evidence bags and belongings from the upstairs unit. Police expected the crime scene to stay in place over the weekend.

The building is across the road from Majura Primary School, Watson Pre-school and the Watson shops.

Officers were seen carrying the stretcher with the body down the staircase and into a van at about 8.30am on Friday.

Families with young children walking to school along the footpath in front of the property had a clear view of the stretcher.

One child, who appeared about nine years old, was walking alone and asked the waiting media if someone had died.

Mr Hagedoorn said he often saw the man who died come and go from the unit block and would "speak to him in passing but I didn't have much to do with him".

At around lunchtime on Friday, a group of men who claimed to be residents of the building stood on the front yard, expressing shock at the death.

One man, who chose not to be named, said there were often "disturbances and tiffs" at the residence, but that no one expected a shooting.

Former neighbour Genevieve lived in the unit below man for about a year.

She moved out of the public housing flats last year because of violence, but said she didn't want her former neighbour to be "dehumanised" because of his address.

"He was always very gentle, very sweet and I was always very concerned about his safety," Genevieve said.

The man welcomed Genevieve into the often stigmatised community at the flats, where they bonded over their shared love of art.

Genevieve remembered him as a gifted painter.

"He'd been to the School of Art, but he hadn't completed [his course] and that was my connection with him. That made me very sad that he didn't have that opportunity to see that through," she said.

Acting superintendent Rod Anderson confirmed on Thursday night they were examining the possibility the targeted attack was related to domestic violence.

A local woman who was having lunch at the cafe directly across from the property at around 12.30pm said she was horrified at the incident in the "quiet" inner north suburb.

"It is so sad," she said.

"It is such a busy area; there are kids everywhere. We often come to these shops and see people walk over from those apartments, and to think that someone died is just terrible."

It is understood a man was bashed at the same unit block last month, but police were unable to confirm that incident was linked to the death.

"We'll look at that incident in totality and there are a number of avenues of inquiries to determine if there is a link at all," acting superintendent Anderson said.

He assured residents of Watson not to be concerned about their safety, because Canberra is one of the safest cities in Australia and we believed this was an isolated incident."

Police would not reveal the injuries the man suffered or where he was shot.

- With Katie Burgess