A shootout erupted between two car break-in suspects and the homeowner whose vehicle they targeted as an officer was arriving on the scene Tuesday night in Ensley, police said.

The Birmingham Police Department’s 911 Communications Division received a call around 8:50 p.m. Tuesday about a car break-in in progress in the 2500 block of 29th Street Ensley, said Officer Truman Fitzgerald.

An officer who was already in the area responded to the call, Fitzgerald said.

“As he’s driving down the street on scene, he hears an exchange of gunfire” and relays that information to a dispatcher, Fitzgerald said.

The dispatcher then sent out a “max emergency” alert indicating that an officer may be in harm’s way.

The officer saw the two male suspects flee the scene. The officer gave chase but lost sight of the suspects.

Officers then returned to the scene to investigate.

“The preliminary investigation revealed a group of suspects were breaking into a car and they were involved in shootout with the homeowner and the officer was right in the middle of it,” Fitzgerald said.

Police believe the homeowner was the target of the gunfire and that the homeowner then returned shots.

Nobody was hit by gunfire or injured in the incident but the officer’s vehicle was damaged, said Fitzgerald.

No suspects were in custody as of 10:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Police believe the suspects are no longer in the area of the incident and they “don’t pose a threat to the general public.”

Anyone with information on the suspects’ whereabouts was asked to call police.