HARLAN, Ky. (WYMT) - Harlan County officers were involved in a shootout Friday night.

It all began at apartment number two.

Officers with the Harlan County Sheriff's Office were there to present a search warrant of the home of Lisa Farley.

That is when a next door neighbor said he heard things go wrong.

“We were just hanging out and then we heard a tussle, and we thought somebody was fighting outside our front door. So we got kind of quiet, and then we heard four popping noises and then we kind of realized hey that's a gunshot,” said Andrew Lewis.

Police say numerous shots were exchanged between them and Farley's boyfriend Joseph Edwards.

“He slammed the door. We forced the door open and at that point began shooting at us, and we had to return fire,” said Sheriff Marvin Lipfird.

Officers were on either side of the apartment door when shooting began which is a position the sheriff said can be very dangerous and even deadly.

“It was a situation that had the potential to go extremely bad, extremely fast, and it did go a little bit bad, but it could have gone much much worse,” said Lipfird.

Neighbors said it is normally a peaceful area.

“Stuff like that never happens here it's always quiet i mean we usually leave the door unlocked and don't really pay attention to anything,” said Lewis.

However, the shootout next door may force them to lock their own door from now on.