Casper (Wyoming), Apr 8 (AP) A man was killed in a weekend shootout and a police officer was critically injured in a confrontation witnesses said occurred in a vacant, dirt lot with two children inside a car nearby, police has said.

The officer suffered multiple wounds and was being treated for "life-threatening injuries" at Wyoming Medical Center in Casper, according to a statement from police released yesterday in Casper, Wyoming's second-largest city.

The names of the man and wounded officer were not made public.

Police received a call at 1:36 p.m. Sunday about a vehicle complaint and two officers responded, the statement said.

"During that contact, the male unexpectedly drew a firearm and engaged the officers in gunfire," the statement said. "The two officers returned gunfire." The Casper Police Department referred questions to the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation, which is investigating the shooting. A message left with the office seeking comment was not immediately returned.

Witnesses told local media that there were two children in the man's car during the shooting, which occurred outside the car, but the police statement did not mention the children.

"Maybe 15, 20 shots and it was over, and wow I've just never seen anything like that before," nearby resident Travis Barker told KCWY-TV.

Neighbour James Gray told the Casper Star-Tribune that he was washing his pickup truck in front when he saw the man in a white sedan driving in circles in the dirt lot.

Gray said the man appeared to be teaching two children with him how to drive when officers arrived and shouted at the man to stop the car.

The man stopped, spoke to the officers and then made a phone call, Gray said.

Gray said he looked away and then heard shots fired. He said he saw police appearing to use the car to take cover while exchanging gunfire with the man. (AP) IJT

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)