A suspected car thief remains in critical condition after a police-involved shooting late Thursday night in Brooklyn.

It happened just after 11:30 p.m. in the vicinity of 255 Havemeyer Street in Williamsburg.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly says it all began when officers spotted an SUV with no lights and an expired license plate on Broadway and attempted to pull the driver over.

He says the driver, identified as Dahan Sam, 29, sped off against traffic then abandoned the stolen SUV a short distance away.

Kelly says an NYPD sergeant then noticed two men walking nearby, one of whom fit the driver's description. When one of them started running he says officers chased him to the Jonathan Williams Plaza housing development.

After tripping, police say Sam turned and fired two shots from a 9-millimeter handgun at the officers from just a few feet away, prompting them to return fire.

"One officer fires seven rounds, another officer fires two rounds. The individual is struck. We're not certain how many entry and exit wounds he has at this time, but there's a total of nine wounds in his body," Kelly confirmed.

The suspect was taken to Bellevue Hospital.

Residents nearby described hearing rapid gunfire.

"All we heard the guy screaming we heard the cops say whatever they said to him 'Stop! Stop! Stop! and right after that all you heard were the shots lit off -- bang, bang, bang, bang. It just kept on going and right after that it was silent," said one resident.

Police say they recovered a .38-caliber handgun at the scene.

An investigation is ongoing.