A search is underway for a male suspect after a man was shot multiple times in Cole Harbour, N.S.

The RCMP were called to Merrimac Drive around 9:30 a.m. Thursday.

Police say a 22-year-old man was sitting in his car outside a home on the street when he was shot through the driver's side window.

He was taken to hospital with serious injuries. Police say the man is from Dartmouth but isn’t from the neighbourhood where he was shot.

Police shut down Merrimac Drive and a K9 unit is on scene as officers investigate the incident and search for the suspect.

Resident Roxanne Grosse says she was surprised to see the commotion in her neighbourhood Thursday morning.

“I came out and looked and it wasn’t on our street. I went over to my neighbour’s yard and looked across and you could see the police cars and whatnot and the people were out and I said ‘what’s going on’ and she says ‘somebody just got shot in my yard and there’s a car there and it’s got three bullet holes into it and there’s a person with a chest wound and all the police are here’ she says, ‘I just looked out the window and grabbed my baby and ran,’” says Grosse.

A nearby neighbour, and friend of the victim’s aunt, says the man was still alive when he was taken to hospital.

“I was talking to his aunt,” explains neighbour Dorothy Horton, “and he got shot in the chest and two in the shoulder.”

Five schools in the area - including Cole Harbour High, Auburn Drive High and three elementary schools -- were placed on a hold and secure as a precaution. The hold and secure has since been lifted at all schools.

“We just thought it was a routine drill,” says student Kirsten Lind. “So everyone was pretty calm. Once we saw stuff on social media, it was a little nerve wracking.”

“A lot of people left early because they were kind of freaked out,” adds student Emily Warren. “They didn’t really know what was going on. Their parents wanted them home with them.”

The Halifax Regional School board says everyone is safe and parents will receive a message from each school.

The Nova Scotia Health Authority also asked community mental health patients to stay away from Cole Harbour Place after it was locked down. It reopened at about 11 a.m.

The emergency department at the Halifax Infirmary was put on a level two lockdown.

“Whenever we have a lockdown of this nature,” explains Everton McLean of the health authority, “it’s usually because there is a threat to a patient who has been admitted to the emergency department or staff.”

Police say the shooting is not a random act and the investigation is ongoing.