Durham County Sheriff's Deputies said three men are in custody after a narcotics investigation turned into a shootout on the northwest side of the city.

Lt. Stan Harris of the Durham County Detective Division said shots echoed down Hillsborough Road off Interstate 85 when Olvin Alexander Oranda Hernandez, of 1506 Bungalow Avenue in Durham, got out of a car and started shooting at the narcotics team. It started around 8:00 Wednesday night.

"The Durham County Sheriff's Office was involved in a drug investigation here at the Cracker Barrel," Harris said. "The suspect started firing on the detectives and they returned fire."

When the gunfire stopped, deputies confiscated about 620 grams of schedule II powder cocaine, according to investigators.

Two other suspects involved in the investigation are also facing charges. Deputies said Richanel Sala Sala, 2816 Ross Road, and Victor Oscar Bravo, of Virgie St., are in the Durham County jail under a secured $3 million bond. Both are facing a couple of drug charges including trafficking cocaine.

Deputies were still questioning Hernandez Thursday afternoon.

Detective Morial S. Whitaker was hit in the foot. Emergency teams took him to Duke University Medical Center where doctors later released him. Doctors weren't able to remove the projectile from his foot so he is waiting for another procedure from a specialist. Harris said Whitaker has been with the force about a decade.

Forensics teams worked late into the night Wednesday, checking all around the parking lot, even in the Dumpsters to cover every angle. They used a fire truck to take aerial photos of the scene.

"We get every angle we can just to make sure that we take everything by the numbers and make sure everything is all inclusive so when we interview and interrogate, we have every possible angle on this investigation," Harris said as officers still worked nearly three hours after the shooting. "It's a very wide crime scene. That's why we have to take our time and process the whole scene."

He said eight officers and three suspects were involved in the narcotics operation. All officers went through debriefing Wednesday night.

"They were doing a drug investigation and that's the unknown when you work in narcotics," Harris said. "That's the unknown that we have to live with in this line of work. Unfortunately, a firefight broke out but fortunately no one was killed."