An NYPD cop was shot and wounded in a gunfight in the Bronx early Tuesday \u2014 and still ran after the alleged teenage gunman before his partner hauled him to the hospital, authorities said.
\nOfficer Paul Lee, 34, a three-year department veteran, was the first cop shot in the line of duty this year and\u00a0was released from the hospital later Tuesday\u00a0to applause from fellow members of New York\u2019s Finest.
\nLee, a member of the 48th Precinct\u2019s public safety team, was in an unmarked police car around 3 a.m. when he and his partner spotted two men in black face masks on the corner of East 183rd Street and Prospect Avenue and pulled up to them.
\nThe duo started to run away \u2014 but then one of them turned and opened fire at the cops, police sources said.
\n\u201cAs [the officers] pull up, at least one male fires at least six times, striking the windshield and our officer who was seated in the passenger seat,\u201d NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig said during a briefing.
\nLee was shot in the left arm, \u201cnarrowly missing vital structures,\u201d NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell told reporters.
\nThe cops returned fire, and Lee began to ran after the suspects \u2014 before his partner pulled him back into the car and brought him to St. Barnabas Hospital.
\nAn armed 16-year-old boy was busted nearby by other 48th Precinct cops \u201cafter a brief foot pursuit,\u201d Essig said. He was later charged with attempted murder and criminal possession of a weapon.
\nThe teen is not a suspected gang member, but was arrested in April, also for criminal possession of a weapon, allegedly over a knife, according to sources.
\nVideo shows\u00a0a suspect in custody at the scene as one cop can be heard saying, \u201cBring him over here. I want to look him in the face. Yeah, that\u2019s the motherf\u2014er. Yeah, motherf\u2014er, we got you! We got you!\u201d
\nA .32 caliber weapon was recovered from the teen, according to the police official.
\nCops were still looking for the teen\u2019s alleged accomplice, a man who was dressed in black and was wearing a ski mask.
\nLee was released from the hospital several hours after the shooting, getting wheeled out by his partner, Antonio Martinez, and receiving a traditional NYPD \u201cwalkout\u201d salute from dozens of fellow officers.
\n\u201cWhat we just saw was a police officer pushed out of this hospital by his heroic partner,\u201d Patrick Lynch, president of the NYPD Police Benevolent Association said outside the Bronx hospital.
\n\u201cWhat we saw when we watch that body-worn camera and videos from shops, is a police officer realizing they were shot, still running towards the danger \u2014 running after the person that shot them.\u201d
\nDeputy Inspector Joseph Deleon of the 48th Precinct said the intersection where Lee was shot is known as a problematic spot in the area.
\n\u201cThat location we have had specific incidents with robberies, with gang activity, so they are heavily deployed into that location,\u201d Deleon said.
\n\u201cThey\u2019ve arrested many people with firearms at that location.\u201d
\nHe said Lee and Martinez \u201cdid their jobs to the fullest.\u201d
\nAuthorities said a second shooting took place just about 100 feet away from where Lee was wounded and just seconds after \u2014 although it\u2019s unclear if the two incidents were linked.
\nTwo .380 shell casings were recovered at that scene on East 183rd St. and a suspected gunman who fled in a car was being sought, authorities said.
\n\u201cLet me be clear, we will stop at nothing to ensure that the subjects involved in this shooting and the people who drive violence in this city will be brought to justice,\u201d Sewell said.<\/p>\n