A Nassau County police officer was shot during a scuffle over a gun with a suspect this morning, authorities say.

The shooting happened at around 5:20 a.m. on Hempstead Turnpike in the East Meadow Plaza parking lot across the street from Eisenhower Park.

Police say a uniformed patrol officer noticed a suspicious vehicle in the parking lot and called for backup. When a second officer arrived, both of them approached the parked vehicle, but its occupant, 41-year-old Dwayne Oxley, locked himself inside.

Shortly after, police say a struggle ensued over one of the officers' gun and several rounds were fired from it.

Officials say one of the bullets hit the officer in his left leg. Police say that is when the second officer on the scene chased after Oxley and shot him at least twice in the chest, killing him.

"It still remains to be seen how that officer's gun was dislodged in his holster," says Lt. Kevin Smith, of the Nassau County Police Department.

Both officers were taken to the Nassau University Medical Center. The officer who was shot had surgery and is in non-life threatening condition. The other officer was treated for trauma.