UPDATED 2.48pm A woman who was critically wounded after being shot in Invercargill last night has been transferred to Dunedin Hospital.

Nearby residents were told to secure their properties after the shooting at a home in Otatara as cordons also went up.

Police we called just after 6.30pm, and after midnight they found the body a 29-year-old man suspected of shooting her.

They say he died from what's thought to be a self-inflicted injury, and that the two were related.

The house where the man's body was found has been guarded overnight.

The 50-year-old woman who was shot was originally taken to Southland Hospital before being sent to Dunedin.

Dunedin Hospital isn't releasing her condition this morning.

Police said in a statement they were not looking for anyone else in relation to the shooting.

They said the man and women were related, but have not said what their relationship was.

Initial reports said the woman was shot outside the Otatara Four Square store, on Dunns Rd, but the owner, who did not want to be named, said this morning that was not true. The incident had happened somewhere on Dunns Rd but he did not know where.

A neighbour said he knew the dead man as Kevin but did not know anything about a woman living at or visiting the property.

Kevin operated a property maintenance company and owned his home, the neighbour said.

He had lived there for about a year.

The neighbour, who did not want to give his name, said he saw Kevin running down the driveway about 12.15pm on Tuesday.

He continued to run along Otatara Rd towards Dunns Rd.

"He dropped his socks just by the gate, and then took his shirt off. He ran off wearing three quarter pants and nothing else.... He was out of control.''

The neighbours said he saw the man again, about 1pm, about 6km away at the Stead St reserve on the outskirts of Invercargill.

Later in the evening he read about the shooting on Facebook and telephoned the police to tell them what he had seen earlier in the day.

He said he never heard any arguments or gunshots during the day or evening.

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