(WSB Radio) -- It started as a routine traffic stop along I-285.  It led to an officer being shot, a man being carjacked at gunpoint and a massive manhunt for the suspect.

A DeKalb County police officer is recovering after stopping a car near Northlake Parkway at about 10:15 this morning.

During the stop, the officer went back to his cruiser to run a license plate check.  That's when one of the three people inside the car got out and began running down the highway.  The officer caught up to him and a scuffle ensued.

"We believe the suspect intended to grab the officer's gun and was unsuccessful," says DeKalb County police spokeswoman Mekka Parish.  "He produced his own weapon, fired a shot and at least one of those shots did graze the knee of the officer."

The gunman wasn't finished, however.

"After that individual got into that altercation with the officer and fired that shot, he then proceeded to carjack a car along 285," Parish says.  "It was a white truck.  The driver had slowed because of the altercation."

The gunman drove off, leaving behind the wounded officer and the other two people who were in the stopped car.  They were taken into custody and questioned.

The scene then moved to Chamblee-Tucker Road, to the QT just west of I-85.  That's where the stolen pick up truck was discovered abandoned.

The suspect, James Ferrell, 41, was captured shortly before 8 p.m. Thursday -- about eight hours after shooting the officer and fleeing, DeKalb County Police Officer Jason Gagnon said.

Court records show Ferrell was already wanted for fleeing, fighting police and hiding from his parole officer.