A shooting by police of an armed man in Moncton has residents on edge and looking for answers.

RCMP responded to a complaint shortly before 6 a.m. Saturday of an armed man attempting to break into a vehicle near the Moncton Coliseum.

Police say officers fired their guns after tracking down the suspect in the Whitney Avenue - Jordan Avenue area of Moncton.

Kim Hannah lives on Jordan Avenue. She says she awoke to a strange noise early Saturday morning.

“I heard ‘bang, bang.’ Automatically I just assumed maybe firecrackers, but then I realized no, that was different,” says Hannah.

“When we looked, the body was right over there...about 10 feet away,” says witness Rickey Maillet. “He was laying there in the ditch. Right away the cops said ‘don’t move! Don’t move!’”

Maillet says the incident took place behind his home, where he has lived for three years with his girlfriend.

“It’s a perfect neighbourhood. Very quiet, nice neighbours, very outgoing neighbours,” he says. “We have never really had stuff like this before. It hits home.”

Witnesses say the man’s body was moved up onto the grass where CPR was performed, but that he wasn’t moving before being taken to hospital.

One area resident says she is questioning the safety of the neighbourhood and is having second thoughts about living there.

“I needed a bigger place, but now I am definitely moving because it is not a good area anymore,” says Christine Johnson.

The Fredericton Police Force, who is conducting the investigation into the shooting, released the victim’s name Monday.

They confirm 30-year-old Daniel Levesque of Moncton was pronounced dead at hospital Saturday.

Police have released few details about the incident, pending the external investigation, and witnesses say it’s too early to speculate.

“We don’t know if it was right. That is why there is investigators for things like that,” says Maillet.

“I live here and I can’t tell you exactly what happened and it happened in my backyard,” says Hannah.

She also says the incident has affected her profoundly.

“He is always popping in my head. I can close my eyes and I can see his face.”

On Saturday, Codiac RCMP said officers involved in such shooting incidents are removed from duty while the investigation continues.

With files from CTV Atlantic's David Bell and The Canadian Press