The injured police officer was not identified by authorities late Friday night but was reported in stable condition at East Alabama Medical Center shortly before midnight.

All-out manhunt

Officers from multiple agencies, including a special task force on scene, engaged in heavy gunfire at Crossland Downs apartment complex on Stonegate Drive, off Wire Road.

The chaotic scene and sound of steady gunfire led to first responders quickly evacuating residents there and warning others nearby and across from the Auburn University vet school to shelter-in-place.

One woman told the Opelika-Auburn News that she heard the gunfire and took cover in her bathtub.

Others rushed outside and away from the shooting without even taking time to get fully dressed for the cool air and rain outside. Many residents evacuated with their pets, while police, fire and ambulance units arrived by the dozens with sirens wailing and lights flashing.

How it all started

The frantic action began around 5:30 p.m. Friday when Auburn police were asked to respond to an armed robbery on Dean Road.

One of the officers responding stopped a vehicle fitting the description of that driven by the suspects, nearby on Opelika Road near two auto parts stores and the Dollar General parking lot.

As the officer approached, the suspect opened fire, striking the officer at least four times, police said.

Immediately a regionwide alert and mug shot with a description went out, identifying him as Christopher James Wallace, 38, a white male wearing a camo hoodie. He was accompanied by an unknown white female, and the two were in a silver Jeep Liberty. The tag number also was shared.

"We're not going to rest until he's in custody," Auburn Police Capt. Lorenza Dorsey told reporters a short time later. Assistant Chief Will Mathews agreed. "Every police officer in the state of Alabama is looking for him."

The manhunt by all available units included detectives, sheriff’s deputies, state and federal authorities, all working in unison to track down the suspected shooter.

That soon led to an apartment at Crossland Downs on Stonegate Drive, where a relative of the suspect was believed to be living.

'Bullets are flying!'

Police heavily armed and in tactical gear surrounded the apartment complex. Gunfire erupted that filled the air with noise and smoke. Residents from several blocks away heard the commotion, while nearby Auburn University issued warnings and a lockdown for the vet school.

Residents fled the scene and across Wire Road, which eventually was closed to all traffic, as the gunfire continued. “Get back! Bullets are flying everywhere!” one officer warned bystanders.

“It sounded like fireworks going off,” one man told the Opelika-Auburn News, which had reporters on the scene reporting live online with video of the frantic activity from across Wire Road.

The two suspects refused to exit, he said, even after the fire began.

“The fire consumed the apartment. The suspects are believed to have perished in the fire,” he said, shortly before 11 p.m. Friday.

The injured officer was undergoing surgery but reported in stable condition. He has served on the Auburn police force for “4-5 years,” Dorsey said earlier.

Prayers for all

District Attorney Brandon Hughes was among the dozens of officials on hand, visibly upset when news of the incident first broke and he vowed full support for police.

"We just ask everybody to pray for the officer, pray for the doctors and the nurses, and pray for the people trying to chase him down," Hughes said of the suspect earlier in the night.

Wire Road and the involved portion of Opelika Road remained closed or obstructed late into the night.

More details will be reported as they become available, first on OANow.com later today, and also in Sunday’s edition of the Opelika-Auburn News.