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Police: Gas Station Robbery Leads To Police-Involved Shooting In Medford

MEDFORD, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- An apparent robbery at a gas station set off a wild series of events that included a police-involved shooting in Suffolk County early Wednesday morning.

It all started around 1 a.m. with a robbery at the 76 gas station on busy Route 112 in Medford.

Gas station employees say the attendant hit the panic button when he feared a  customer was stealing beer, CBS2's Carolyn Gusoff reported.

Police responded and stopped three suspects in a car outside the gas station.

Two police officers were questioning the suspects when things suddenly turned violent, WCBS 880's Mike Xirinachs reported.

With both doors open, the driver put the car into reverse, backed up into the officers and their patrol car, and fled, Suffolk County Detective Lt. Kevin Beyrer said.

"There were two officers at either open door, the suspect put his car in reverse, backed his car into the officers' car, the open doors forced the officers back," Beyrer said.

One officer then fired at the fleeing vehicle.

"One of the officers fired three shots at the car, no one in the car was hit, we believe one person in the car was hit by fragmented glass," Beyrer said.

Neighbors heard the gunfire.

"I heard one big bang," one nearby resident said.

The suspects set off a multilocation search, ending five miles away in Gordon Heights. Police located two men at a house on Flores Lane and arrested the driver for DWI, Gusoff reported. The passenger has not been charged.

Police are still searching for a third man.

At the gas station, workers are shaken about how a petty theft played out.

"We are in a dangerous business," one worker said.

The officers were treated at a hospital for minor injuries and released.

The investigation is ongoing.

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