Toronto police are investigating the city's 79th homicide of the year after a young man was gunned down inside an east-end apartment building on Wednesday afternoon.

Police were called to the highrise at 90 Mornelle Crt., near Ellesmere Road and Morningside Avenue, at about 3 p.m.

The body of a man, believed to be in his 20s, was found on the seventh floor. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

A suspect in a black hooded sweatshirt was seen fleeing the scene. Heavily armed tactical officers scoured the area looking for the man.

Homicide officers were questioning a witness at the scene.

Residents were locked out of the building as police investigated.

"Just another day, because out back you hear gunshots all the time," one female tenant told CTV News.

Police have not released the victim's identify or a possible motive.

The slaying comes days after the police probed five separate murders over the weekend.

Toronto's homicide count is now just one shy of the 80 homicides recorded in 2005, the "year of the gun." That year, firearms were used in 52 killings.

The city's highest murder count for one year was 89, which occurred in 1991.

Mayor David Miller reiterated his call for a handgun ban on Monday after the deadly weekend.

"It's time to say to the United States, 'Stop exporting guns across our border.' We don't want to see people die in our city because of American guns coming across the border," he told CTV News.

"It's time for them to tighten the loopholes that allow so-called collectors to own handguns in this city. I think the time's long past that we can take that risk."

With a report from CTV's Janice Golding