Sarasota, Florida -- Sarasota Police are searching for a shooter who opened fire near a local church Thursday morning and hit a 16-year-old boy with a stray bullet.

Police say around 1 a.m., the 16-year-old boy was hit in the back by a bullet that had gone through the trunk of the car while a passenger in the vehicle. They were driving through Pershing Avenue and Dr. Martin Luther King Way near Community Bible Church at the time. A second bullet was found lodged in the vehicle. 

The teen was treated at Sarasota Memorial Hospital and released hours later.

When officers arrived at the scene, they were approached by a man who claimed to have been in the area during the shooting and said he was shot at by an unknown person. He told officers he dodged the bullets as he ran from the area to a relative's home. He was not hurt.

Police have not identified the shooter at this time and are asking anyone with information on the shooting to call Sarasota Police Detective McDowell at 941-364-7309.