Rocky Mount, N.C. — A Rocky Mount police officer is recovering after being shot twice during a traffic stop early Sunday morning. Two suspects are in custody and three others are still on the run, including the man investigators say pulled the trigger.

Rocky Mount authorities are getting help in their search for 20-year-old Alexander Whitaker from nearly a dozen U.S. marshals, who arrived Sunday evening. Investigators said Whitaker was in a dark Lincoln sedan with four other people when Senior Police Officer Darrell Martin stopped them at around 4 a.m. on Sunset Avenue at the U.S. Highway 301 overpass.

Police said Martin recognized a man in the car who was wanted for a traffic violation. When he asked everyone to get out, police said Whitaker shot Martin at least twice in the side, and in the arm.

Martin, a 13-year veteran with the Rocky Mount Police Department, is listed in stable condition at Nash General Hospital.

After hearing about the shooting, residents in Martin's neighborhood showed their support. Despite the injuries, friends said Martin is doing well.

“When I went to see him, I felt much better,” said friend Lindy Brewer. “There was a lot of police support there. He was able to carry on a conversation with us, and it was very uplifting to see him in such good shape, because it could have been so much worse.”

Authorities said Whitaker fled the scene with two others who were still in the car. He is described as a 20-year-old black male, standing 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighing 130 pounds. If you have any information on Whitaker's whereabouts, you are asked to contact local law enforcement.

Authorities have not yet released a description of the other two individuals, who fled from the scene.

Two of the car's occupants, Eric Devon Harrison and Tyron Foreman, both of Rocky Mount, were taken into custody.