Police are looking for the suspect in a shooting on Saturday afternoon in Washington.

Law enforcement officials said the incident occurred in the wooded area between the Westbrook Housing Authority and Pamlico Plaza on Carolina Avenue a little after 3 p.m. The victim, a black man in his twenties, was shot in his upper left shoulder during what he said was an attempted robbery, according to the man who called 911 from the auto services area of Walmart where the victim had fled.

“He said somebody was trying to rob him behind the store,” the witness, who preferred not be identified, said. “Luckily, whoever it was was already gone.”

Washington Police and Fire Services Director Stacy Drakeford said the shooting actually occurred farther away, in the wooded area near the basketball court at the corner of Pontiac and Manuel drives. According to Drakeford, there may have been drugs involved.

“We found some drugs in that general area,” Drakeford said. “We’re trying to put the pieces together.”

Washington EMS treated the victim at the scene before transporting him to the hospital, as officers searched for the suspect in the Pamlico Plaza and Westbrook vicinities.

Saturday, Drakeford said police investigators have several leads and continue to search for the shooting suspect.