A 25-year-old Quincy man is in critical condition after being shot multiple times in the chest in Cambridge in what police believe to be “a deliberate and targeted incident.”

The shooting took place at 8:53 p.m. Friday on Jackson Street, police said today. Police and members of the Cambridge Fire Department paramedics squad arrived and found the man conscious.

While paramedics stabilized him before taking him away for emergency surgery, police found witnesses who said they heard between four and eight gunshots, then the screech of tires.

The shooters didn’t get far in that car; police found a blue vehicle matching one described by witnesses that had crashed into a parked vehicle and been abandoned on Dudley Street, not far from the shooting. The car was impounded for use in the shooting investigation.

Cambridge Police Department Detectives and investigators from the Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office processed the crime scene. A Transit Police Department K-9 Unit led officers to a site close by where investigators expanded their investigation and questioned several people. Uniformed officers canvassed the neighborhood this morning to alert residents of the incident and gather more information.

All early indications are that this was not a random shooting, police said.

“Investigators are operating on some very strong investigative leads, and the investigation is actively being pursued,” said Lt. Steven DeMarco, of the Cambridge Police.

People with information about the crime are asked to call DeMarco at (617) 349-3370.