State police are investigating after a Derby officer shot a man in the leg after that person fired at a passing car.

It happened around 7 a.m. at the intersection of Division Street and Atwater Avenue in Ansonia Monday.

Derby's police chief says that officer was stopped at the red light when two young men ran up to the police car, banging on the windows for help.

While the officer was moving his car to the curb to help the men, Chief Jerry Narowski says another car passed by and one of the distressed young men pulled a gun, firing into that car.

That's when the officer, who has not been identified yet, shot the shooter in his leg.

Both young men were taken into custody. The one who was shot is being treated at a local hospital and expected to be OK. News 12 is told the other young man is a 16-year-old. Narowski said both are Black. The officer is white.

"That has no bearing in the matter. You had an African American male shooting at a African American male," said Narowski.

Corneilus Mccullough, 29, was arrested and charged with carrying a pistol without a permit and criminal possession of a firearm.

A car with two bullet holes remained on the street hours later. Narowski says no one in the passing car got hit. He also says a gun was recovered from the scene.

Candice Chavers says the man who was shot is her 29-year-old nephew, Mccullough, and the other is her 16-year-old son.

"My son said my nephew felt like somebody was following them," she said.

Eric Barone heard the series of shots, thinking it was a car backfiring, until he looked outside. He says one of the bullets went into his home.

"It's scary. I mean a bullet went through my window this morning. I could've been shot, so this needs to stop. I mean, it really does," he said.

There isn't video of the incident. Derby's police chief says there was no dash cam in the cruiser and his department is in the process of getting body cameras.

The shooting happened right on the Ansonia-Derby line.