A man was shot and wounded by an Easton police officer responding to a report of gunfire Tuesday night on the city's South Side.

Police did not release the man's name, but family members at the scene identified him as Nelson Mayers. The family members and several witnesses said Mayers was shot in the leg.

According to police, the incident began at 9:38 p.m. with a call that shots had been fired in the 100 block of W. St. Joseph Street. About 20 minutes later, another shots-fired call came in at the 400 block of Williams Street.

At 10:14 p.m., a police officer investigating the gunfire came across a man near the intersection of Centre and Wirebach streets. 

"The officer later shot one male in the 600 Block of Wireback [sic] St. during that encounter," Capt. Scott Casterline wrote in a news release issued just after 2 a.m. Wednesday.

The wounded man was taken to a local hospital, police said.

"The Northampton County District Attorney’s Office has been contacted and has been apprised of the incident," Casterline wrote. "The incident is being investigated by the Easton Police Department.  Due to the serious nature and to protect the integrity of the investigation no additional information will be released at this time."

Several witnesses interviewed along Centre, W. Lincoln and Berwick streets said they heard a pair of shots.

"Two gunshots, and them telling a guy to stay down," said Jay Corley, who was watering his plants when the shooting happened.

"I thought it was a couple of cars crashing into one another," said another man, who was awakened by the shooting.

Following the shooting, police had a man in custody in the back of a police cruiser, but he was later released. Police closed off Centre Street between Berwick and W. Lincoln streets.

Casterline wrote that investigators found evidence of gunfire at both the Williams Street and St. Joseph Street scenes. Police ask anyone with information to call Lt. Matthew Gerould at 610-250-6634.