Gunman Critically Wounds Detective : Crime: Veteran officer is shot as he confronts robbery suspect in the Mid-City area. Police search for a teen-age suspect.

A veteran plainclothes Los Angeles police detective was shot and critically wounded Tuesday in a confrontation with a teen-ager suspected of robbing a Mid-City hamburger stand, police said.

Detective John Marzullo, 53, a 30-year-LAPD veteran, had just come out of a pawnshop and gotten into his car about 2:10 p.m. when a witness told him that a hamburger stand near Pico and West boulevards had been robbed, said Officer Sharyn Michelson.

Michelson said the detective caught sight of the suspected robber and followed in his car to the 4500 block of Dockweiler Street.

When Marzullo got out of the car to confront the teen-ager, the detective was shot in the chest and arm, she said.

Norrene Dennis, 26, whose boyfriend heard the gunshots and ran for help, said the detective seemed at once horrified and astounded by the attack.

“After (30) years on the force, I can’t believe I got shot,” Dennis and her boyfriend overheard the detective say.

She said the area is relatively quiet and has little crime.

Paramedics took the detective to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he was listed in critical condition with wounds to his left chest and right biceps.

Emergency room workers said he was “awake and alert” upon arrival.

Cmdr. David Gascon said a search has been launched for the gunman, described as a Latino in his late teens wearing dark blue, baggy pants and a gray sweat shirt.

Officials said Marzullo is married and has two sons.