WOODSTOCK — The driver of a stolen SUV shot himself when Woodstock Police pulled him over shortly after noon today.

The man, whose identity is not being released, is undergoing surgery for the wounds he suffered after shooting himself in the chest, police say.

Woodstock Police Spokeswoman Brittany Duncan said the man is expected to survive his wounds and police expect to charge him with theft by receiving.

Officers initiated the felony traffic stop about 12:30 or 1 p.m. on Thursday on Canton Road at Farm Ridge Drive near the Cherokee-Cobb County border.

Police say they stopped the Nissan Frontier after they received information from the Georgia Crime Information Center, or GCIC, that it was stolen.

Duncan said when officers asked the driver to exit the vehicle, he reached for a .45-caliber handgun inside the vehicle and shot himself in the chest.

“While being treated on scene, he was alert, conscious, and transported to Kennestone Hospital,” Duncan said.

Duncan said the man had one leg in the vehicle and one leg out as if he was about to get out of the car when he shot himself.

The vehicle was reported stolen in Cobb County, she said.