Two plainclothes Chicago police officers wounded in the Back of the Yards neighborhood Tuesday night were shot with a high-powered rifle in an area where street gangs have been increasingly using AR- and AK-style long guns, police report.

Investigators have seized a rifle believed to have been used in the attack, along with a handgun. They also arrested three people and were searching for others, according to police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.

One officer was hit in the arm and hip, the other in the back. Both were “recovering at home” Wednesday after spending the night in Stroger Hospital, Guglielmi told the Chicago Tribune .

In a statement, the CPD said the shooting took place about 9:10 p.m. Tuesday when “two vehicles pulled up and the occupants began firing shots indiscriminately in the direction of the officers.”

The officers returned fire, but they apparently didn't hit anyone, the department said.

The two officers had been following up on an earlier investigation, police said. According to sources, the two had been investigating a gang-related shooting that left a 15-year-old boy wounded in the left leg about 6:35 p.m. Tuesday. That shooting took place about 3½ miles from where the officers were shot.