Three men have been charged in a shooting that left a Birmingham police officer injured.

Authorities on Saturday announced the arrests of Montrell Towns, 24, Duane Jones, a juvenile, and Lilbrian Ladd, 19. All three are charged with attempted murder and discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle in Thursday night's wounding of the officer.

Towns and Jones were caught within hours after the shooting by Birmingham police K-9 teams and patrol officers. Towns, a local rapper, was captured hiding under a vehicle. Ladd later surrendered, said Sgt. Bryan Shelton.

All three will be transferred to the Jefferson County Jail where they will be held on $400,00 bond each.

Court records show Towns is no stranger to the law. He pleaded guilty in November to the felony drug possession, and received a 13-month suspended sentence. He also pleaded guilty in 2015 to unlawful distribution of heroin - also a felony - and received a 24-month suspended sentence.

In 2013, Towns was arrested on three counts of attempted murder and discharging a gun into an occupied building or vehicle, however those charges were dismissed.

Court records do not reflect any prior adult arrests for Ladd, and Jones is a juvenile so his age and other information is not public.

The officer, whose name is not being released, is part of the department's Neighborhood Enforcement Team (N.E.T.), a task force implemented four years ago to help control crime in the city's neighborhoods. He took a bullet to the arm Thursday night on West End's Princeton Avenue, and then got on the police radio to call for help, saying "I've been hit."

More details emerged Friday as the probe continued. Authorities said the N.E.T. officer was on Princeton Avenue about 11:30 p.m. as part of an investigation into a person or people who are believed to be involved in violent crimes in the city. Initially police said the officer was a part of a follow-up investigation into a drug house complaint, but said as the investigation progressed, they learned that wasn't necessarily the case.

The officer was wearing the N.E.T. uniform which is an army-green t-shirt and matching pants, or camouflage pants. He was in an unmarked vehicle when he saw the men approach his vehicle. Authorities said he saw what was happening, and began to drive off. That's when shots peppered his vehicle.

"It's unknown how many individuals were shooting or how many times they shot,'' said Sgt. Bryan Shelton.

The officer got on his radio and called for help. Other N.E.T. team members were in the area, as well as patrol officers, and they flocked to the scene. Authorities said the assailants jumped into a white SUV and fled, but because so many officers were in the area, they were able to get in behind the fleeing suspects.

After a brief chase, an undisclosed number of suspects bailed from the SUV and took off on foot. Birmingham police called in all five of its K-9 tracking teams to hunt for the suspects. Several high-capacity weapons were recovered.

The wounded officer, Shelton said, is doing well. "He actually was able to walk out of the hospital on his own strength and his own accord and we're very thankful for that,'' he said. "It could have been much worse. Thankfully he is alive, he is well, he is in good spirits."

"I've known him personally and he works hard for us. He cares, and when you find an officer or public servant who cares about people, about what they go through, it's a real gem,'' Shelton said. "We are highly fortunate that it did not turn out worse than what it was."

The investigation is ongoing.