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Rolling shootout spans 2 busy Atlanta intersections, police say

ATLANTA — Police are searching for the shooters involved in a shootout Thursday morning in northwest Atlanta.

Two men were shot in what police are calling a rolling shootout along Joseph E. Lowery Boulevard around 6 a.m.

The two crime scenes shut down roads in the area during rush hour traffic.

Channel 2's Steve Gehlbach spoke with a driver on Channel 2 Action News This Morning who got caught up in a crash.

Bernard Muhammad said he heard gunfire after he was hit head-on driving to work. Then, he saw two men running away.

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"I hoped he would get into his own lane, but he didn't. He turned into my lane," said Bernard Muhammad.

He made it out without serious injuries, but a passenger in a Mercedes SUV was shot in the side and rushed to a hospital in critical condition.

Another shot barely grazed the SUV's driver.

Atlanta police said the gunfire started less than a mile away on Northside Drive and Ivan Allen Jr. Boulevard.

Then, the shooters in a Dodge Charger chased the victims in the Mercedes SUV.

"We believe that the Charger came here, followed the vehicle here," said Maj. Darin Schierbaum, with the Atlanta Police Department.

It's unclear if the two cars pulled up next to each other at a stoplight or were at a gas station when the shooting started.

Police are now looking at security cameras from businesses in the area as well as cameras at both intersections that tie into APD headquarters to see if they captured what happened.

Muhammad told Gehlbach he didn't see who was shooting or where the bullets came from. He was too busy trying to get out of the way.

"When I heard the gunshots, I ducked," Muhammad said.

Police are still looking for the shooters in a dark-colored Charger with tinted windows.