JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A man is in critical condition after he was shot several times with an assault rifle as he was driving on Moncrief Road Wednesday afternoon.

A witness to the shooting initially though it was a car backfiring.

"I heard like three bang, bang, bangs. By the time I turned and looked out into the street, I saw the gold car veering and I heard some more shots," Benjamin Aguilera said.

Witnesses told police that the gunman fired five or six shots with an AK-47-type rifle.

"They were driving by each other. The victim in the car obviously got struck by the gunfire and then he lost control of the car," Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Sgt. Hector Rivera said.

The victim's car crashed into a pole across the street from a day care center. The man, a young man who has not been identified, got out, then collapsed in the street. He was transported to Shands-Jacksonville Medical Center with what police described as life-threatening injuries.

The suspect's pickup truck almost crashed into a woman's car while trying to get away. Police said they were still looking for the gunman, but have only a vague description of a man in his early 20s.

"It's senseless," Aguilera said. "It's probably going to be over some minor dispute. It's just stupid."

Video:
Driver Shot On Moncrief; Gunman Flees