Four people are dead following an attempted traffic stop in Maryland, authorities said, as a manhunt was underway in the state for two former police officers who were considered armed and dangerous.

Three passengers were pronounced dead at the scene in Smithsburg late Thursday afternoon, including a female driver, an adult man and one child, according to Maryland State Police.

A fourth passenger, another child, was medevacked to a local hospital and pronounced dead, police said.

All four appear to have been shot, Elena Russo, a spokesperson for Maryland State Police, said during a press briefing. The car had run off the road and hit a fence line, she said.

The four individuals have not yet been identified pending next of kin notification. No further details on the shooting were provided due to the active investigation, Russo said.

“This is a complex incident. It is going to take time,” Russo said. “We are really working hard to understand what occurred.”

Russo would not confirm if the incident was related to the manhunt for former Baltimore County police officers Robert Vicosa and Tia Bynum, who were being sought for an alleged kidnapping and armed robbery that occurred Wednesday in Baltimore County, Maryland. Vicosa has also been accused of stealing a car in York County, Pennsylvania, and fleeing with his two young daughters earlier this week.

Russo did say that investigators believe the Smithsburg incident is potentially related to two incidents in Maryland and Pennsylvania.

“The Pennsylvania State Police were attempting a traffic stop on a car that matched the description of a suspect vehicle involved in an incident in Baltimore County,” Russo said.

Authorities began searching for Vicosa after he allegedly held a woman at gunpoint at a home in York County, stole her car and fled with his two daughters, ages 6 and 7, police in York County said. The stolen car was found in Red Lion, Pennsylvania, police said.

On Wednesday afternoon, Vicosa and Bynum allegedly committed a kidnapping and robbery in the Cockeysville, Maryland, area, the Baltimore County Police Department said.

Vicosa was allegedly armed with a semi-automatic handgun, police said, adding that his daughters were present during the robbery.

The suspects allegedly carjacked a man and forced him to drive them, before releasing the victim unharmed, Baltimore County Police Chief Melissa Hyatt said.

Baltimore County police said Vicosa was fired in August for several disciplinary violations, according to records obtained by Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, ABC affiliate WHTM. Police said Bynum, who was in the criminal investigations bureau, is currently suspended and stripped of police powers.

Vicosa and Bynum were believed to have been “armed with at least one handgun and possibly several semi-automatic rifles,” police said in a public alert Thursday morning.

Hyatt began her remarks at a news conference Thursday morning with a personal plea to Bynum.

“Our priority is the safety and well-being of [Vicosa’s daughters] Giana and Aaminah. Please get these two innocent and precious children to a safe location,” Hyatt said. “We want to work with you on a safe and peaceful resolution.”

She urged both suspects to “peacefully surrender to authorities.”