A harrowing video obtained by The Post shows the moment panicked New Yorkers frantically take cover behind cars as a gunman opened fire on a rookie cop in Queens on Wednesday afternoon.
The surveillance footage, obtained by The Post on Thursday, captures an unknown gunman wrestling with Officer Brett Boller on 161st Street in Jamaica around 3:20 p.m. before the 22-year-old cop with only three months on the job collapses onto the sidewalk.
The gunman then points the firearm at the cop, who is barely moving, while quickly backing away, the video shows.
The man drops an unknown object as he turns to run away, picking up the item in the street behind a white SUV, according to the video.
One person, who appears to be a child, can be seen scrambling between parked cars into the street and ducks behind a car after watching the violence unfold.
A food delivery bicyclist spins around and rides off in the opposite direction, the video shows.
A video shows the moment NYPD Officer Brett Boller was shot on a sidewalk in Queens on April 5, 2023.
Boller wrestled with the gunman before collapsing.
A crowd of people gathered around the officer after the shooting.
Another man on the sidewalk quickly walks pivots away from the violence and continues to walk casually away from the shooter before watching the police frantically respond.
Boller was shot once in the hip and is recovering in Jamaica Hospital on Thursday after a successful surgery, according to police and sources.
A 30-year-old street vendor on Jamaica Avenue who identified himself as Chris H. 30, said he saw the commotion both before and after the shooting.
“[Two] officers were chasing the guy,” Chris said. “Before they turned the corner [161st St] one of the officers tripped over himself. His partner almost tripped over him. His hat fell. He tried to recover it but just continued running with his partner. I went and picked it up. I gave it to another officer.”
“I thought the guy had tried to steal something. I didn’t even think he had a gun on him.”
The vendor said he heard a single gunshot as the suspect and the cops turned left onto 161st Street.
Boller has only been on the job for three months.
NYPD officers responding to the scene of the shooting.
“I went up the block,” he said. “I saw the officer on the ground. His partner was holding the wound. There wasn’t that much blood. His partner was telling him, ‘The ambulance is almost here. You are doing fine.’”
The wounded cop was groaning, he said.
“It was like you were playing football and you got tackled bad, like ‘ahhhhh, ahhhhh’…..like you sprain your ankle or something,” the vendor said.
A nearby parking garage worker, 52, said he wasn’t at the garage when the shooting happened, but was on his way back when he saw the aftermath.
“I saw the police putting up tape all over the place,” he said, adding that the NYPD used drones to check the top of scaffoldings.
“The NYPD did a good job,” the worker said. “I take the bus all the time. He has a gun on the bus. That’s ridiculous. Who carries a gun on a bus?”
One of the suspects wanted in connection to the shooting.
Another photo of the shooting suspect.
The broad daylight fracas began when the suspect was involved in a dispute with another passenger over a seat on board an MTA bus, according to NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig.
Mayor Eric Adams blamed the rampant use of guns on city streets during a press conference at Jamaica Hospital on Wednesday evening.
“The proliferation of guns and too many people are willing to use it repeatedly,” Adams said.
“And that is why the extreme recidivists must be identified and removed from our streets.
“When you could display a weapon over a dispute on the bus, that says a lot that is why we are continuing to remove these guns off our streets.”
Police are still hunting for the gunman who dumped his jacket, mask and sweatshirt at a nearby parking garage.
The suspect should be considered armed and dangerous, the NYPD said.
A combined reward of $20,000 is being offered for any information leading police to the suspect, police said Thursday afternoon.
Up to $3,500 is payable by CrimeStoppers upon arrest and indictment, $6,500 is payable by the NYPD upon arrest and conviction, and $10,000 is payable by the Cop Shot Foundation, also upon arrest and conviction.
