VANCOUVER -- Police on Vancouver Island's West Shore are investigating after a 37-year-old man was shot Friday night. 

West Shore RCMP said in a news release that they were called to the 4600 block of Sooke Road in Metchosin just after 9 p.m. for reports of the shooting.

When officers arrived at the scene, they found the man - who was known to police - deceased.

The Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit has taken over the investigation, which is in its early stages, RCMP said.

"Initial evidence gathered at the scene led investigators to believe that this was a targeted incident," said Const. Alex Bérubé, media relations officer for the West Shore RCMP, in the release.

"No arrests have been made at this point," Bérubé added. "We are asking anyone with information to contact our investigators, particularly anyone who may have been travelling the area between 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m."

Anyone who has such information should call the VIIMCU information line at 250-380-6211 or the West Shore RCMP non-emergency line at 250-474-2264, police said. 

A lengthy stretch of Sooke Road was closed in both directions while police investigated Saturday. It reopened to traffic around 4 p.m.

Bérubé told reporters at a news conference on Saturday that he couldn't share the name of the victim, but that the man's identity would be released as the investigation progressed.

"I understand how the public may feel uneasy about a shooting happening in a rural area such as Metchosin, however, based on the evidence collected at the scene … investigators have determined that this was a targeted incident," he said.

Investigators are likely to remain at the scene throughout the weekend, Bérubé said.

Owen Elkington lives next door to the home where police were focusing their attention Saturday. He told CTV News Vancouver Island his wife heard three gunshots around 9 p.m. Friday night. Shortly after that, police arrived and told the family to stay inside.

"She said the road was actually quite quiet at the time, which isn't necessarily unusual on a Friday night," Elkington said.

Despite its rural nature, the road sees its share of criminal activity, he said, noting that he has, in the past, told people he thinks were drug dealers to move along.