A 26-year-old man has been charged with first-degree murder after police say he broke into his next-door neighbour's home on the west Mountain early Tuesday morning and shot a man during a dispute.

Mark Duckett fled after firing the fatal shot, according to Staff Sgt. Dave Oleniuk, but the Hamilton man later turned himself in at the Mountain station.

The victim, a 28-year-old, was pronounced dead at the scene. He has not been identified, as police are still notifying family members.

His death is the city's seventh homicide this year.

Investigators arrived at the home on Magnolia Drive near Mohawk Road West after reports of shots fired around 1 a.m.

The shooting happened inside the house. Four people were inside at the time and police say it was family members of the victim who called 911.

An 'incident between neighbours'

A gun has been recovered. Investigators believe it was legally purchased.

Police would not say how many times the trigger was pulled or where the victim was hit.

"This was an incident between neighbours," said Oleniuk. "Basically everybody involved knew each other."

It was the second time police visited the address in less than four hours, said Oleniuk, who explained officers had also been called to the victim's home around 10 p.m. Monday by someone reporting concerns about the behaviour of a male next-door neighbour.

"Police did attend and warn him about his behaviour" and "potential consequences," said Oleniuk. He declined to provide any more details, except to say that the man's neighbours "didn't like the way he was acting toward them."

Investigators are aware of other, past interactions between the neighbours, but Oleniuk says Monday was the first time police were called.

When asked about Duckett's state of mind during the first call to the home Oleniuk said "there's been no indication that he was unaware of his circumstances."