EVERETT — An Everett man was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle on Sunday night after a shooting in an apartment in the 5400 block of Colby Avenue.

The 24-year-old man, who lived in an apartment on the alley, suffered "a substantial gunshot wound," Everett police Sgt. Boyd Bryant said.

The shooting occurred about 7:15 p.m. Responding officers searched the area with a police dog.

Witnesses told police two men fled the scene shortly after the shooting.

Detectives were awaiting a search warrant before processing the apartment for evidence. Bryant said it was much too early in the investigation to discuss a possible motive and whether a weapon had been recovered.

The shooting occurred about 7:15 p.m., Bryant said. The victim was treated at the scene before being airlifted to Harborview for further treatment.

Investigators closed off most of the alley in that block with crime scene tape and conferred outside the open door of the apartment, where a color television remained on, or searched along the alley with flashlights.

Several neighbors alerted by the sound of the air ambulance helicopter and the gathering of police cars became concerned, but said they hadn’t heard a gunshot.