Cops have arrested a “person of interest” in a wild caught-on-video chase where a man opened fire on Bronx cops before escaping by jumping from rooftop to rooftop, police said Saturday.
Surveillance video of the intense scene shows a small family racing for cover into a brick apartment building as the gunman fires off a round at pursuing police along Vyse Ave. near E. 174th St. in East Morrisania.
Four officers, their weapons drawn, chase after the suspect and carefully navigate a corner that the gunman ran toward.
Uniformed officers on patrol in the area saw the man, who was wearing a grey hoodie, armed with a gun around 7:40 p.m. Friday, police said.
As they approached, the man sprinted off, firing off at least three shots at police, witnesses said.
A second video taken before the shots were fired shows the gunman trying to hide his pistol in the wheel well of a white sedan, but when a cop turns the corner, the suspect pulls the gun from its hiding place and runs off with it.
A citywide “officer down” alert was sent out from the scene, said a police source. “But nobody got hit,” said one witness, who would only identify himself as Mike.
The officers held off from searching area buildings until backup arrived. The gunman, never slowing down, raced to the roof of one building and started hopping roofs as he made his way down the street.
“The cops came flying. It was wild out here,” said Mike. “The cops were shouting that he was jumping from roof to roof.”
The police turnout included a helicopter and Emergency Services Unit officers.
The gunman managed to escape at that point, but cops apprehended a man inside a Vyse Ave. building near the shooting scene at about 3:40 a.m.
Police took the man in for questioning. No charges were immediately filed.