Masked assailants demanded money before shooting a Melbourne man in the leg, police say.

Two gunmen forced their way into a Brunswick West house about 3.45am on Friday before assaulting and then shooting one of the residents.

Detective Senior Constable John Elliot believes the shooting was a targeted attack.

"All we can go off at this point in time is that there were demands for cash," Det Snr Const Elliot told the Nine Network.

The 23-year-old victim was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Four other people in the house were not harmed and nothing was stolen.

"Everyone's distressed by the incident as you could well understand," Det Snr Const Elliot said.

Detectives combed through the crime scene, collecting evidence on Friday.