A Rhode Island police officer investigating a report of a stolen sailboat from New Jersey was wounded Tuesday when shots were fired from below deck from an armed suspect, who was killed in the exchange.

The shooting happened shortly after 9 a.m. when four Newport police officers and members of Newport Harbor's harbormaster's office were looking into a sailboat that matched the description of a watercraft that was stolen in New Jersey last week, WPRI-TV reports. The officers encountered a man at the bow of the boat, and he fled below deck.

Once below deck, the suspect grabbed a firearm, and gunfire erupted on the sailboat. An officer was struck in the leg in the exchange of gunfire, which left the suspect dead. 

The officer was rushed to the hospital and is in stable condition. No other officers were injured.

"Having to operate from a vessel is definitely more complicated," Chief Ryan Duffy said during a news conference. "It’s not a stable platform and there are factors that are just not the same as engaging with people on dry land."

The shooting is under investigation.

"Everybody at the Newport Police Department are such professionals, and this is an impactful situation, especially if you can imagine engaging in a gunfight when you are contained to a vessel,” said Duffy. "It’s that much more intense, but everybody is doing well."