L.A. school officer in stable condition after shooting

The officer was shot at a high school parking garage in Los Angeles on Monday

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- A plainclothes police officer assigned to a Los Angeles, California, high school was shot in his bulletproof vest Monday morning during a gunbattle in the school parking garage, police said.

They are searching for two male suspects who fled the scene on foot.

The officer, whose name has not been released, is in stable condition with a non-lifethreatening wound at Good Samaritan Hospital, said Lt. Horace Frank of the Los Angeles Police. The bulletproof vest apparently saved him from a much more serious wound, police said.

Frank said that according to preliminary reports, the officer, who was driving through the Belmont High School parking garage, was told by several students that there were two suspicious males in the area. The officer confronted the two, one of whom allegedly pulled out a handgun.

The officer was hit as he exchanged shots with the suspects. He managed to chase the suspects after he was injured, but they fled the scene.

Police have cordoned off the area and are searching for the suspects, Frank said.

The incident happened at 7:25 a.m. (10:25 a.m. ET) shortly before morning classes. The school has classes year round.