Quebec's police watchdog is investigating after a police chase in Vaudreuil-Dorion, west of Montreal, ended in a shootout Tuesday afternoon.

At around 1 p.m., officers tried to pull over a car on Highway 20. The car, a silver BMW, was reported stolen, according to a spokesperson for the Sûreté du Québec (SQ).

The driver refused to stop and took off on to Harwood Boulevard, eventually stopping in the parking lot of an SQ police station.

When officers approached the car, they discovered the driver, a 26-year-old man, had a gun, according to Martin Bonin-Charron, spokesman for Quebec's independent investigations bureau (BEI).

"A shootout happened and, at this point, the civilian was injured," he said. The man is expected to survive.

Police said no officers were hurt. Eight BEI investigators, with assistance from the Montreal police, are probing the shooting.

A Quebec provincial police car had its back windshield shattered during a shootout in Vaudreuil-Dorion Tuesday afternoon. (Radio-Canada)

Witnesses describe scary scene

One witness told CBC Montreal's Kristin Falcao they believed the man was driving so fast, he didn't realize he was pulling into the SQ parking lot.

Witnesses say the man involved in a police shootout in Vaudreuil-Dorion Tuesday was in bad shape, but authorities say he will survive. 3:10

While the stretch of road where the incident took place is fairly busy, it cuts through a relatively quiet neighbourhood.

Lina Caucci lives near the police station and was in a car with her sister Sandra Tuesday afternoon when they saw an ambulance and police cars speeding toward the station.

When they passed by, they saw someone lying on the ground. Lina said at first she thought the violence involving police officers that is making news in the United States had spilled over into Canada.

"Right away we thought 'Oh no, a shooting of our policemen here in Vaudreuil,'" she said.

"We know some policemen around here so it's stressful."