A manhunt was underway in Thonotosassa after a sheriff's deputy was shot in the thigh early Thursday while responding to a 911 call about shots being fired in the neighborhood.

Hillsborough County Sheriff's Col. Donna Lusczynski told local television stations that shots were fired in the direction of three arriving deputies around 12:30 a.m.

Deputy Scott Ranney was hit in the left thigh and was taken to Tampa General Hospital. He was released about 7 a.m. and will recover at home, the Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

The deputies returned fire, but it wasn't known if they hit the suspect who they spotted outside a duplex.

A perimeter was quickly set up in the Thonotosassa neighborhood and K-9 units and helicopters were searching for the man suspected of shooting at the deputies. Investigators asked residents to report any suspicious activity. They said roads would remain blocked off in the neighborhood until daylight so they could process the crime scene.

Officials say Ranney has been with the sheriff's office since 2009. He started as a detention deputy and became a patrol deputy last year.

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