Two police sergeants were shot during a struggle with a gunman who had allegedly just robbed a shop on the Lower East Side Thursday, according to law-enforcement sources.
The 22-year-old suspect struck one of the officers in the thigh, and the same bullet passed through and grazed the other cop in the leg, according to the sources.
Both cops were taken to Bellevue Hospital and expected to survive.
The shooter, who was taken into custody, has a couple of prior arrests, the sources said.
The exact circumstances surrounding the shooting weren’t clear – but sources said it began as an armed robbery at an e-bike shop on Canal, near Eldridge Street at around 4:15 p.m.
The suspect took off, but officers caught up and tried to wrestle him to the ground near the curb on Eldridge, between Delancey and Rivington Streets.
As they fought, the gunman sunk a hand into his waistband, yanked out a pistol and fired – striking, sources said.
Police recovered a gun at the scene, sources said.
The cops did not shoot at the suspect, sources said.
Maxwell Vice, 25, of the Lower East Side, said he watched the ordeal go down as it happened.
“There’s a scuffle at this corner and there’s like four or five officers, and out of nowhere I hear a pop and everyone ducks,” Vice told The Post. “I ducked because I didn’t know if there was going to be a shootout with the cops. But then, out of nowhere, like 400 cops came in.”
Vice described the suspect as a tall man wearing an all-gray Nike tracksuit.
“They said he had a gun, but I couldn’t tell because he was running so fast,” Vice said, describing the scuffle as one perp against about two dozen cops.
“He was pressing them,” he said. “When I saw he was pressing the police I was like, ‘Oh my God, someone’s gonna get shot.’ That’s why I crouched.
“Before I heard the shot, it was already clear that an altercation was going to happen. So I ducked because I wasn’t getting shot by no f–king bullet.”
The NYPD confirmed that cops responded to a 911 call for a robbery at 91 Canal Street at about 4:15 p.m., but gave no further details.
Additional reporting by Larry Celona