A tense Christmas day shootout in Langley has police searching for a suspect while trying to figure out what led to the incident in the first place.

It started when a man who had his car stolen earlier in the week spotted his vehicle being driven in the Cloverdale area of Surrey.

He called 911 and officers were soon tailing the stolen car south on 200th Street.

When it came to a stop at 72nd Avenue, the two officers boxed in the vehicle with their police cruisers. They got out and approached the suspect vehicle.

“The driver of the stolen car then began ramming the police cars out of the way,” Insp. Tim Shields said. “There were shots that were fired by the police and the stolen car was struck.”

The suspect vehicle then rammed the police cars out of the way and sped off, escaping capture.

Shields said though the officers opened fire, there was “no indication” the driver was struck.

A shotgun shell could be seen at the intersection following the incident.

Police found the stolen vehicle about a half hour later 10 blocks away, with no sign of the driver. The vehicle was seized and towed back to a Surrey RCMP detachment.

Police are now appealing for witnesses of the incident or those who may know the driver to come forward.

The suspect is described as a white man in his 40s with scruffy facial hair, medium-length dark brown hair and was wearing sunglasses, according to Shields.

Shields said the case will not be taken over by the Independent Investigations Office because even though police fired shots at the vehicle, the suspect wasn’t struck.

RCMP will be conducting independent officer reviews to investigate the use of force and find out exactly what happened to determine if the actions taken were appropriate.