A traffic stop on a van with a headlight out early Thursday led to the arrests of three men for a drive-by shooting a in northeast Atlanta and the confiscation of an assault rifle allegedly used in the shooting.

Atlanta police spokeswoman Kim Jones told the AJC that a Zone One sergeant was patrolling Joseph E. Boone Boulevard when a gray Pontiac Montana minivan with three men inside passed him.

“He observed that the vehicle had one headlight out, so he initiated a traffic stop on the vehicle,” Jones said. “The vehicle initially pulled into a parking lot, but as the sergeant pulled in behind the vehicle, it sped off,” Jones said.

She said the sergeant radioed the vehicle information to other units, and other officers spotted the minivan at Joseph E. Boone and West Lake Avenue.

“The officers turned around in an attempt to catch up to the minivan,” Jones said. “When the officers got to Richardson Street, they observed the minivan in the middle of the road.”

Jones said the driver had lost control of the vehicle, struck a utility pole and bounced back into the roadway.

“One suspect was attempting to flee on foot, but was captured by officers,” Jones said.

A supervisor arrived and went to check out the minivan. As he approached the vehicle, one of the two men still in the minivan “was attempting to grab the shoulder strap of an AK-47 assault rifle,” Jones said.

“The supervisor secured the AK-47, along with a .25-caliber pistol, and took both occupants of the vehicle into custody,” Jones said.

While investigating the wreck scene, police got a call from Atlanta Medical Center to investigate a person who had come in with a gunshot wound.

There, the gunshot victim advised officers “that hew as walking on Ponce de Leon Avenue at Parkway Drive when three black male suspects in a gray minivan with one headlight out shot him with an AK-47,” Jones said. “The victim advised that he didn’t know why the suspects shot him.”

Police charged the suspects, Sydney Clark, 23, Michael Clark, 20 and Shelton Deshawn, 20, with aggravated assault and being convicted felons in possession of firearms. The van’s driver, Sydney Clark, is also facing numerous traffic charges. All three were in stable condition at Grady Memorial Hospital, where they were taken for treatment of injuries sustained in the wreck.

The identity and condition of the victim, who was shot in the leg, were not immediately available.