Police are on the hunt for a gunman who fled the scene of a Clayfield shopping centre after shooting a man in the back.

Emergency services were called to the shopping centre on the corner of Bonney Avenue and Sandgate Road, about six kilometres north-east of the Brisbane CBD, about 12.45pm on Tuesday.

However when they arrived, neither the alleged shooter or the 29-year-old victim were there.

It is believed the shot man flagged down a passerby who took him to the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital suffering non life-threatening injuries.