A man was shot and critically wounded early Monday while he was trying to break into a house in the city’s Ward-Meade neighborhood, police said.

The incident occurred about 4:35 a.m. in the 300 block of S.W. Clay.

Topeka police Sgt. Byron Endsley said at the scene that a man who lives at 305 S.W. Clay heard a noise at his residence and went downstairs to investigate. A news release from Lt. Dean McWilliams said the homeowners called police to report someone trying to break into their house.

Endsley said as the homeowner neared a door at the residence, someone from outside the house threw a brick through a window, striking the man in the face.

The person outside the house then tried to reach inside the broken window and open the door, Endsley said. At that point, the man inside the house confronted the man outside, firing several shots from a gun and striking the would-be intruder several times.

The wounded man then ran down the alley behind the house and was found lying in the back yard of a residence at 317 S.W. Clay.

Endsley said the burglar was believed to live in the same block where the break-in occurred.

The wounded man’s injuries were described as life-threatening. He was taken by American Medical Response ambulance to a local hospital, where he was in surgery at 7:40 a.m. Monday. As of 2 p.m., the man was out of surgery and was expected to survive, per a Topeka Police Department news release.

Meanwhile, the man who lives at 305 S.W. Clay and who was struck in the face by the brick also was taken to a local hospital for observation. His injuries, which weren’t believed to be life-threatening, included a broken nose.

Topeka police set up two crime scenes about 5:30 a.m. on the west side of the 300 block of S.W. Clay — one around 305 S.W. Clay and the other around 317 S.W. Clay, three doors south. One of the crime scenes included a portion of the west alley behind the residence at 317 S.W. Clay.

Additional officers had been called to hold the crime scene.

Police detectives were called shortly before 5 a.m. to the Law Enforcement Center to interview witnesses. As of 2 p.m., no arrests had been made in the case as police continued to investigate.