Three New Jersey teenagers were detained for several hours this weekend after they mistakenly knocked on the door of a state trooper who then shot at them as they drove away, the NY Daily News reports.

According to state prosecutors, the teens mistook the home of Trooper Kissinger Barreau for that of their friend who lived next door, knocking on the house’s front and back doors early Sunday morning. Believing them to be burglars, authorities say Barreau then chased the fleeing teens and shot at their car. From NJ.com:

The teens began to walk back down the driveway, and then ran to their car when the door opened, [18-year-old Jesse] Barkhorn said. As they maneuvered around two cars on the cul-de-sac, they saw a laser [gunsight], he said.

“We realize it’s a gun and we panic. I’m like ‘dude, dude, dude, accelerate,’” Barkhorn said.

The trooper fired three shots, one of which hit a front tire, Barkhorn said. About 1½; miles away, on Butternut Way, the car came to a stop

The teens say they then called police to report the shooting and were arrested for suspected attempted burglary. Nine hours later, they were released without charges.

CBS New York reports that no criminal charges have been filed against the trooper, who remains on active duty while the shooting is being investigated.

“This officer should have controlled himself,” former Union County Prosecutor Ted Romankow told NJ.com on Thursday. “To start waving a gun and shooting, I think is beyond the pale.”

[Image via CBS New York]