VALDOSTA — Authorities are searching for three individuals who robbed a bank Friday, shot a bank employee and fled the scene initially on foot.



At around 9 a.m., the Valdosta Police Department was dispatched to the 1210 Baytree Road location of Citizens Community Bank in reference to some shots fired and an armed robbery that had already occurred.



Three males wearing stockings or ski masks, said Cmdr. Brian Childress, entered the local bank.



One of them fired multiple shots with a handgun. They then ordered everyone in the bank to get down, he added.



No customers were inside the bank at the time of the incident, Childress reported.



At some point, Childress said that the bank’s vice president came out of his office and was shot.



Zeke Dorsey, as sources later identified him, was shot in the leg and transported to South Georgia Medical Center, where he was treated and released.



“He’s going to be OK,” Childress said. “And that’s good news.”



The three suspects exited through the back of the bank on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash, Childress said.



“At some point, right when this all first began to happen, one of the offenders turned and told the other two, ‘Hey, there’s a police car that has pulled into the parking lot,’” he continued. “They ran out the back and fled on foot.”



Police believe the suspects then entered a white sport utility vehicle.



A lookout for the men, as well as the vehicle, was issued in Florida and Georgia, Childress said.



Throughout the day, law enforcement officers all across South Georgia, including Colquitt County, stopped white sport utility vehicles in the hope of catching the bank robbers.



Shortly after the armed robbery incident, at least two Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office vehicles were involved in an accident near the corner of Georgia Avenue and Alden Avenue. Sheriff Chris Prine said one car was heading east on Alden Avenue, while a second was following two Valdosta police vehicles heading north on Georgia Avenue.



Prine said that authorities believed that they had spotted the suspects’ sport utility vehicle and were in high-speed pursuit when the accident occurred.



The eastbound Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office car struck the northbound Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office car as they went through the intersection.



One deputy sustained a “pretty serious shoulder injury,” Prine added. A second deputy was taken to South Georgia Medical Center to be checked for any possible injuries. Their names and conditions were not known at press time.



“We have obtained some evidence from the scene and are processing it,” Childress said.



Anyone with any information about this incident is encouraged to call the Anonymous Crime Tip Line at (229) 293-3091.