SAN ANTONIO – An 18-year-old man is in critical condition after he was shot by a San Antonio Police officer during a traffic stop late Tuesday night on the West Side.

The shooting happened just before 11 p.m. after officers tried to stop a vehicle near Old Highway 90 and Commerce Street.

Police said the driver initially refused to stop, and officers followed the vehicle until it eventually pulled over near San Gabriel Avenue and Buena Vista Street.

One officer got out and began talking with the driver. Police said that’s when the 18-year-old passenger got out of the vehicle and ran toward the patrol car, where a second officer was still sitting.

“The passenger of the suspect vehicle got out of the car and ran towards the patrol car, where he was confronted by the passenger officer,” Acting San Antonio Police Chief Jesse Salame said.

Police said the officer and the 18-year-old then got into a physical struggle on the ground.

“The officer reported that the suspect had a gun and was reaching for the gun,” Salame said. “They are on the ground struggling. The officer manages to break away and get up, and he fires multiple rounds at the suspect.”

The 18-year-old ran from the scene after the shots were fired.

At the same time, the other officer left the vehicle he had stopped to help his partner. Police said the driver then walked away and had not been found as of early Wednesday morning.

Officers searched the surrounding area and found the wounded 18-year-old about a block away in weeds on an abandoned lot.

“He had a couple of gunshot wounds,” Salame said. “At last check, he was undergoing surgery, and his condition is critical.”

Police said a gun was recovered near where the 18-year-old was found. Investigators will examine the weapon as part of the investigation.

Neither officer was injured.

The officer who fired the shots has been with the San Antonio Police Department for seven years and will be placed on administrative duty while the shooting is investigated.

Police were also working to identify and locate the driver who left the scene.

“We’re trying to figure out exactly what was going on tonight and what everybody, what these guys were doing out here,” Salame said.

The investigation is ongoing.