VANCOUVER -- A 19-year-old has life-threatening injuries after he was hit by a driver in Burnaby following a possible confrontation, local Mounties say.

In a news release Friday, Burnaby RCMP said they were called to Macpherson Avenue and Marine Drive in Burnaby at about 12:20 a.m.

The young man was taken to hospital with critical injuries.

“He’s still in hospital. He’s still in serious condition and fighting for his life,” said Burnaby RCMP Cpl. Brett Cunningham at a news conference Friday. “The suspect vehicle struck our 19-year-old male with significant force, causing him significant injuries.”

"Police believe the boy was struck by a sedan after entering into a confrontation with the occupants of that vehicle," police said in their release. "The driver was reported to have immediately fled the scene."

There were three vehicles in total involved in this incident, and police say there were multiple people in each. Two of those vehicles remained at the scene and were towed late Friday.

“Certain occupants and certain witnesses are cooperating with police,” Cunningham said. “Some individuals are not cooperating to the extent that we would hope they would and we’re encouraging them to.”

He said he did not know if any of the people involved in the incident are known to police.

Cunningham said there were three people in the suspect vehicle and two of them “are described to be of Asian decent.”

The vehicle police are now looking for is a four-door, light-coloured sedan with significant damage to the front end.

Parminder Sahota lives nearby the scene and told CTV News she and her husband heard yelling late last night.

“We thought it was fighting, somebody fighting, a bunch of kids, so my husband called the police,” she said. “Lots of swearing going on. There was one girl and a couple of guys.”

Sahota believes there might have been about eight or nine kids outside the house and initially she and her husband thought it was an overdose.

“One guy was all naked and they’re giving him air,” she explained. “You can tell last night the way (paramedics) took him, he’s serious.”

One of the items found on the ground at the scene was a golf club, and police said at some point during the confrontation pepper spray was used.

“We did locate several items that could have potentially been used as weapons during this confrontation and right now our investigators are continuing to look into that and see exactly what took place and how these items were used,” said Cunningham.

Police believe none of the teens or young adults involved in the incident have any connection to this area of Burnaby. They are urging any witnesses, and especially those three who left the scene, to come forward.