ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – A man is in the hospital Thursday morning after authorities say he got into a gunfight with St. Louis County police, who were responding to a domestic disturbance call involving the man.

The entire incident unfolded just off Gravois, right by Rambler Drive. According to the most recent information from the county police, the suspect’s condition is critical but stable.

This all started just before 7:15 p.m. St. Louis County Police Sgt. Tracy Panus told FOX 2 that two county police officers responded to a domestic disturbance call on Rambler.

Panus explained that the officers were told before they arrived that an adult male suspect was intoxicated and was refusing to allow the person who called police to leave the home. Officers were also told that the man threatened to harm police if they responded.

Panus shared that when the two officers got there, they saw the suspect sitting on the front porch of the home with a handgun in each of his hands. Panus added that the officers told the suspect numerous times to drop the guns, and they also tried to talk with the man to de-escalate the situation, but the man refused to comply and raised one of the guns toward one of the officers.

Both officers and the suspect then fired. The officers were not hurt, but the suspect was hit and was taken to a nearby hospital with what Panus called “life-threatening injuries.”

Here is some of what Panus told us about responding to calls like this one:

“It’s very challenging,” Panus expressed. “We always assume when we roll up on every scene that everyone is armed. We just make that assumption. But knowing it when we go in and when someone has made those threats to harm us as soon as we get here – it definitely escalates the situation. So, we are more aware of our surroundings, and we’re aware of the people we are working with and trying to deescalate that situation.

Nobody else, including the original caller, was hurt. The officers involved in the shooting are 29 and 38 years old.

The 29-year-old has one and a half years of law enforcement experience. The 38-year-old has three and a half years of experience.