Australian art gallery owner Kevin Reid has been praised as a hero by his wife after he moved her out of danger moments before masked robbers fatally shot him dead on a US street.

A heartbroken Kari Graham-Reid has told how she was on an after dinner stroll with her "wonderful" husband along a Savannah, Georgia, residential street near their home about 9.45pm on Wednesday night.

Three men suddenly appeared from the shadows.

"He moved me out of the way and more than likely saved my life," Ms Graham-Reid wrote on Facebook.

"He was a hero in so many ways and my heart is broken."

Mr Reid's death has shocked Savannah, where the Canberra-born 54-year-old quickly became a beloved member of the close-knit community after opening The Australian Aboriginal Art Gallery in April.

His death marks the city's 42nd homicide this year.

Reagan Deason, who said she lives feet away from the scene, told the Savannah Morning News she first heard loud screams before the gunshots.

"My roommates and I were sitting in our common area when we heard a female scream," she said. 

"We ran to the window to see what was going on and within seconds cops flooded the scene.

We left in the next two hours, because we heard that there were still fugitives on the loose and we did not feel comfortable staying there (in our home)."

Local police described one of the suspects as a black male wearing a light-coloured bandanna over his face.

The other two suspects were described as black males.

"There hasn't been an arrest in the case yet," Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson Darnisha Green said.

Ms Green declined to say if Mr Reid was shot after refusing to hand over money to the robbers.

His friends said the easygoing Australian likely would not have tried to fight off the men.

"If I had to guess, when he was approached Kevin would have said, 'Oh come on. I'll give you some cash. Let's go and get a beer'," a friend Marcia Banes, of Old Savannah Tours, told AAP.

According to WOTC-TV news, a police report indicates Mr Reid was resuscitated after the shooting and asked to see his wife, but died in the ambulance on the way to hospital.

Mr Reid developed a great love of Aboriginal art after living in Alice Springs for 25 years.

His Savannah gallery specialised in contemporary central and western desert art and jewellery created using paintings by the Warlukurlangu artists of the Northern Territory.

Mr Reid, who first visited the art friendly community of Savannah in 1992, opened what he believed to be the only Aboriginal art gallery on America's eastern seaboard.

He moved to Atlanta, Georgia last July, relocating to Savannah in February and opening his gallery in April.

In interview last month aired on WOTC-TV, he said he had always been drawn to Savannah.

"I married by beautiful wife here in Savannah last year. I'm from Alice Springs right in the middle of Australia, 27,000 people, so I said to her if I'm going to move over to America I ain't going to live in Atlanta. So we flipped a coin and Savannah came up," he said.

Ms Graham-Reid, an American, said the happiest day of her life was when they married.

"Kevin was the most wonderful man I've ever known, he would give the shirt off his back to help anyone in need," Ms Graham-Reid wrote.

"He was bright, funny and deeply loyal.

The happiest day of my life was the day we got married. I treasure every minute we had together.

"He made an impact on people wherever he went and he will be missed by countless."

Michael Owens, president of the Tourism Leadership Council, said Mr Reid had been a highly regarded member of the community.

"We are all deeply saddened by this loss and our thoughts and prayers go out to his wife and family," said.

Savannah, with its cobblestone streets and rich history as an important site during the American Revolution and US Civil War, is a popular tourist destination.

Australians are Savannah's fifth largest international tourism market.

However, locals are concerned by an uptick in violence and filled message boards on local websites with heartfelt messages for Mr Reid and his family, outrage at crime in the area and debated Georgia's lax gun laws.

One local wrote she was going to buy a gun "ASAP" to protect herself because she lived just two minutes from the shooting.

Christopher Chemsak, who lived in Mr Reid's apartment building, recalled how he sat with him on the front porch a few days ago and the Australian remarked how "life is good".

"Last night I heard a wife scream as her husband was shot point blank by three strangers who jumped out of the shadows, only footsteps away from her front door," Mr Chemsak wrote on the Savannah Morning News website.

"The only sound more horrifying than the crack of the gunfire was his body's last attempts to maintain life."

Ms Banes said there were plans to hold a memorial for Mr Reid and also open up his gallery for the public to buy the artwork to support his family.

with AAP