Tyler Applegate, a 27-year-old father of five in Saskatoon, was fatally shot after confronting a Terror Squad gang member who'd been caught urinating on his backyard fence, a witness tells CBC News.

CBC is not naming the witness because he fears retaliation from the gang.

Applegate died in hospital Thursday from the gunshot wound he suffered on July 22. Police did not confirm his identity.

The shooting happened on the 2300 block of 33rd Street West. Applegate is Saskatoon's third homicide victim of the year.

A note from Tyler Applegate's children while he was dying in hospital. (Submitted)

The witness was with Applegate when he was shot.

He told CBC that it began when a young man was caught urinating inside Applegate's backyard. He told the man to stop and leave because small children use the yard.

All of a sudden those guys jumped out and one of them started barking like a dog. - Witness

The man eventually left, but then returned minutes later in a truck.

"The guy who was trying to piss in the yard came back and says, 'You want to start something now? These are my boys,' the witness said.

"Tyler grabbed a chain and stood up and said, 'Please get away from here, I have the right to defend myself if you enter into my yard.' They wouldn't leave, they started revving the truck."

The witness said the confrontation escalated quickly.

"All of a sudden those guys jumped out and one of them started barking like a dog. And then another one said, 'Terror what?' And then the last one that jumped out said, 'Terror Squad,'" he said.

"And I was like, 'Oh shit.'"

The witness said that Applegate was shot in the stomach as the group jostled.

He managed to get back into his house. Police and paramedics were called, and he was taken to hospital.

The investigation is ongoing.