EAST ORANGE — An armed carjacking suspect led Essex County authorities on an inter-city chase today, opened fire on police, then escaped into an East Orange neighborhood as cops and a State Police helicopter searched the area for him, officials said.

The gunman was fleeing from Orange police in a stolen Volkswagen Passat shortly before 3 p.m. when he crossed into East Orange and onto South Maple Avenue, where he crashed the vehicle into a guardrail overlooking the Garden State Parkway, said Sgt. Andrew Dielmo, an East Orange police spokesman.

As the suspect fled on foot, he opened fire on more than a dozen pursuing officers before disappearing into a cluster of connected four-story apartment buildings, Dielmo said.

None of the officers was hurt, and it does not appear any of them returned fire, Dielmo said.

East Orange and Orange police, Essex County sheriff’s officers and a New Jersey State Police helicopter scoured the neighborhood for two hours in search of the shooter, but to no avail, Dielmo said.

Police did not release a description of the suspect.

Dielmo asked anyone with information on the incident to contact the East Orange Police Department’s Violent Crime Task Force (973) 266-5060 or the city’s anonymous tip line at (973) 266-5041

Orange officials declined to comment, referring questions to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office.

Despite the possibility a gunman may have been hiding there, East Orange police decided not to evacuate the apartment buildings, according to Dielmo, who said officers established a perimeter to keep the public safe.

But the decision not to clear South Maple Avenue worried some residents.

"There’s plenty of families living in there," said 40-year-old Louis Gonzalez. "My stepson and my daughter are in the apartment."