Fairfield police say a worker remains in critical condition Wednesday after he accidentally shot himself behind a popular shopping center last night.

They say they got a call from an employee at Wings Over Fairfield on Black Rock Turnpike around 9 p.m. saying a man had been shot behind the back of the building.

"In this particular case, it was probably not the safest place to be handling a firearm," says Lt. Robert Kalamaras, of the Fairfield Police Department.

When police arrived to the scene, they say they saw the man lying on the ground with a gunshot wound to his chest.

Police performed first aid on the victim before he was taken to the hospital, where he remains in critical but stable condition.

"Luckily it happened in the back and nobody one else was around, and nobody else got hurt, so that's important," says Mick McCarthy, a resident who works in the area.

Kalamaras says the Detective Bureau is looking into whether the firearm was registered and if the man had a permit to carry in Connecticut.

They believe this is an isolated incident and say there is no threat to the public.

Police are continuing to investigate.

News 12 Connecticut reached out to Wings Over Fairfield, but they declined to comment.