A Picayune police officer is on administrative leave while an incident involving the shooting of two black males at a local service station is investigated.

At 11:21 p.m. Thursday, officers were dispatched to a quick stop on Memorial Boulevard for a fight in progress with a gun, Deputy Chief Chad Dorn said.

The call to police was made by the party without the gun, he said.

When the call came in, two officers were at a nearby gas station and ran over to the one where the altercation was reported, Dorn said.

As officers arrived on the scene, three black males got into a gold Nissan and attempted to back out and leave.

Officers ordered the vehicle to stop and the driver refused to do so, Dorn said. “Officers then drew their weapons in front of the car,” he said.

The driver of the gold Nissan put the car in drive and “gunned it” towards an officer, Dorn  said.

The officer then shot into the vehicle and struck the 19-year-old driver twice, in the left forearm and in the right forearm.

The front-seat passenger of the vehicle, a 23-year-old, was struck in the right chest area.

The vehicle then proceeded to leave the quick stop and headed down South Blanks Avenue, across East Canal Street to North Blanks Avenue, where it crashed at North Blanks Avenue and Washington Avenue.

When officers arrived, the passenger in the rear and driver had taken off on foot and an ambulance was called for the front-seat passenger.

He was transported to Poplarville, where a helicopter airlifted him to Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg.

The driver of the vehicle showed up at Highland Hospital and was transported to Forrest General by an ambulance.

Both of the wounded men were said to be in stable condition on Friday, Dorn said. However, the third person in the car was still at large Friday afternoon, he said

The investigation into the incident is being handled by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation and the vehicle has been towed to the Mississippi Crime Lab in Gulfport, where it will be processed, Dorn said.

The name of the officer and the names of the two wounded men have not been released.