A fender-bender in downtown St. Paul ended with a confrontation and a driver being shot in the ankle on Thursday, police said.

A 35-year-old man told police, after they responded at 7:25 p.m., that he had been stopped at the light at Seventh and Robert streets when a red four-door vehicle struck his vehicle, said Sgt. Mike Ernster, a St. Paul police spokesman, on Friday.

The suspect kept going and the man followed him to Ninth and Robert streets, where the other driver suddenly stopped and exited his vehicle. The suspect got into a verbal argument with the other driver and denied striking his vehicle, Ernster said.

The man whose vehicle was struck said the suspect suddenly pulled out a gun and started shooting at him. After he was shot in the ankle, the man said he ducked behind his own car. He has a permit-to-carry and he returned fire at the suspect, according to Ernster.

The suspect ran away and was not found. A woman, who was a passenger in the suspect’s vehicle, drove away.

Paramedics took the man to Regions Hospital, where he was treated for a non-life threatening injury.