A man recovering from a shooting in Dubuque told police three men tried to rob him.

Dubuque Police got a report of shots being fired in a residential area of the city shortly after 2 p.m. on Tuesday. They found 24-year-old Central Hightower of Dubuque in an alley, suffering from three gunshot wounds. He underwent surgery at a Dubuque hospital and authorities say he’s in stable condition.

Before taken into surgery, though, Hightower told police the shooting was “the result of an attempted robbery” and Dubuque Police say the “only description” Hightower could provide of the suspects was that they were three men wearing masks.