Fight Over Bus Seat Ends With Rookie Queens Cop Shot In Hip: NYPD

QUEENS — A fight over a bus seat left a rookie cop with a bullet wound in the hip and the NYPD searching for a gunman who disappeared in Queens Wednesday afternoon, officials said.

The 103rd Precinct officer, 22, was shot on 161st Street near Jamaica Avenue about 3:25 p.m., minutes after he and his partner had been hailed by an MTA bus driver, police said.

"He was flagged down by a community member who needed help, he was taking police action, then he was shot," Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said. "He was where our communities tell us they want their officers to be."

The cops tried to board the bus to break up the fight, but a man in a black bubble jacket shoved the officers out his way and ran down 161st Street, according to Chief of Detectives James Essig said.

When the cops caught up with the man on 161st Street, he blasted one in the hip, dodged two shots from the other, then fled, Essig said.

Police released a photo Wednesday evening of the suspect, who they said ditched his jacket and other clothing in a parking garage near 161st Street and Hillside Avenue. The man was last seen wearing a white T-shirt and black pants.

Medics rushed the officer to a nearby hospital where he was listed in stable condition Wednesday evening, police said.

The shooting occurred three months to the day from when the cop began his service, Sewell said, and the NYPD offered a $10,000 reward for anyone with information that leads to an arrest.

The officers were joined by Mayor Eric Adams, who paid tribute to all NYPD officers.

"They place their lives on the line for us," the mayor said.