The search is on for the masked gunman police say opened fire inside a Middletown barbershop in broad daylight, leaving a 17-year-old employee seriously injured.

News 12 cameras captured police searching for the suspect at a home on Washington Street. Detectives were on scene for hours, taking evidence — including a scooter. Investigators believe the shooter took off from the crime scene on a scooter after the attack.

Authorities say the teen was shot three times in the back just after 5 p.m. Wednesday at 6 West Barbershop on West Main Street. Officials confirm he graduated from Middletown High School last year and had been part of a mentor program at the shop before he was recently hired.

The shooting happened during business hours while other customers were inside, according to the shop’s owner, Freddie Williams Jr., who also serves on the Middletown school board. The business sits across the street from a restaurant owned by Mayor Joe DeStefano’s wife, and just a block from the city’s police department.

Mayor Joseph DeStefano said the shooting was not random but instead stemmed from an ongoing dispute between two teens who knew each other from high school.

"This was two kids who had issues in high school together. This was a retaliation for something going back a year or so. It takes a sick mind to do that," DeStefano said.

Neighbor Steve Socorro described the heavy police presence during the search.

“There was someone hiding in the backyard over there. They had detectives, the sheriffs over here.”

Socorro added the violence has changed how people feel in their own homes.

“It’s a little unnerving. It is. We used to be able to not lock our door — now you got to always lock your door and stuff.”

Tracy Recine, who owns a nearby business downtown, said he’s never seen anything like it in hIS 15 years there, but believes residents should not feel unsafe.

“I’ve been downtown here 15 years and nothing like this has ever happened before. Every city has got their crime. I’m not worried. Nobody should be worried coming downtown. It’s safe. PD has got things under control," Recine said.

DeStefano tells News 12 youth violence remains one of the community’s biggest challenges, and he again called on state lawmakers to revisit “Raise the Age” laws — which raised the age of criminal responsibility in New York to 18.

“I’ve raised the issue about Raise the Age over the years and how it’s impacting small cities throughout New York State. Our biggest problem in our communities, and you hear it from mayors throughout the state of New York, is youth violence, kids with guns. You see billboards about it: Use a gun and you’ll go to jail for at least three years. They’re going to do this and going to do that but it’s not happening. These things are not happening the way they are supposed to happen, so the state legislature needs to revisit Raise the Age, I believe. There needs to be consequences to juvenile crime and we need to be more responsive to community needs in cities like Middletown.”

Police say the 17-year-old victim remains hospitalized in stable condition.