An armed ex-con fatally shot an NYPD sergeant from 2 feet away and wounded a second officer as the cops approached his car in the Bronx Friday.
The gunman was killed in a barrage of police bullets, leaving his blood-stained torso hanging from the open door of the vehicle.
Sgt. Paul Tuozzolo, 41, was fatally struck in the head and chest during the violent exchange.
The second cop — Sgt. Emmanuel Kwo, 30 — was hit in the right leg and is expected to survive following the 3 p.m. shooting in Van Nest.
Tuozzolo, a 19-year veteran, lived with his wife, Lisa, and two sons — ages 3 and 4 — in Huntington, L.I.
“The city is in mourning and the family of the NYPD is in mourning at the loss of a very good man,” Mayor de Blasio said at a news conference at Jacobi Medical Center. “A devoted man. A man who committed his life to protecting all of us.”
The incident unfolded after the gunman broke into an apartment where his estranged wife had been staying with their 3-year-old son and another woman on Beach Ave. near Merrill St. in Van Nest, police said.
The woman reported to 911 dispatchers about 2:45 p.m. that the killer — identified as Manuel Rosales, a 35-year-old from Brentwood, L.I., with a long rap sheet — was armed.
New York State Police officers salute as a motorcade leaves Jacobi Hospital with the remains of a New York City Police officer killed during a shootout in the Bronx on Friday, Nov. 4, 2016. The gunman also was killed in the exchange of shots that took the life of Sgt. Paul Tuozzolo, a 19-year veteran of the New York Police Department and the father of two young children. Click on the image, above, to see the full Daily News gallery.
Moments after cops were sent to the scene, police learned that Rosales fled in a red Jeep Cherokee, cops said.
Officers inside two marked patrol cars spotted the vehicle outside a storage facility on Bronx River Ave., sources said.
Rosales hit the gas and tried to make a U-turn — but the cops boxed him in, sources said.
Tuozzolo and Kwo approached the SUV with their weapons drawn and demanded the suspect step out from behind the wheel.
There was no response, so the officers inched closer, sources said.
They could not see Rosales’ .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun. When the sergeants were within 2 feet of the jeep, Rosales started blasting away — striking Tuozzolo and Kwo, sources said.
Two officers with Kwo and Tuozzolo, including a 25-year-old NYPD recruit on field training, returned fire, sources said.
“He handled himself like a 30-year veteran,” Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch said of the rookie.
Rosales — who had 17 prior arrests and served three stints in prison — was pronounced dead at the scene.
Hours after the gun battle, his bloodied body could be seen dangling outside the driver’s side window of his SUV, which had crashed into the side of Tuck It Away Storage.
The wounded cops — both based out of the 43rd Precinct — were rushed to Jacobi Medical Center by fellow officers.
The gun, a Colt .45 caliber semi-automatic, used by Manuel Rosales in the shootout. (NYPD)
Tuozzolo’s family was still en route to the hospital when he died, sources said.
“I always talk about what a great job this is, but there’s nothing worse than a day like today,” said NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill.
A source who was inside the hospital room described a heart-breaking scene when the slain cop’s wife arrived and was told the tragic news.
“The wife, mother and father were all huddled together crying trying to console each other,” the source said. “The wife is devastated.”
Dozens of glum-faced cops gathered outside the hospital Friday afternoon, while several more lined the hallways inside.
Rosales had shown up at the Bronx home on Thursday, the evening before the shootout, and threatened to kill his wife, who had taken out orders of protection against him in July.
She called 911, but by the time police arrived, Rosales was gone, sources said.
He then busted his way into the apartment Friday and held his wife hostage for hours. The couple’s 3-year-old son, another child, 13, and the 50-year-old woman who was eventually able to call the cops were all in the home, sources said.
Dozens of glum-faced cops gathered outside the hospital Friday afternoon, while several more lined the hallways inside.
Rosales had shown up at the Bronx home on Thursday, the evening before the shootout, and threatened to kill his wife, who had taken out orders of protection against him in July.
She called 911, but by the time police arrived, Rosales was gone, sources said.
He then busted his way into the apartment Friday and held his wife hostage for hours. The couple’s 3-year-old son, another child, 13, and the 50-year-old woman who was eventually able to call the cops were all in the home, sources said.
A helicopter arrives at Jacobi Hospital with a person who is believed to be a family member. (HOWARD SIMMONS/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)
An American flag was lowered to half-staff outside the 43rd Precinct stationhouse.
Aurora Carrion, president of the 43rd Precinct Community Council, expressed fury over the sergeant’s death.
“I’m so upset about this whole thing,” Carrion said. “This has to stop. This is terrible, this gun violence.”
“I’m so upset about this whole thing,” Carrion said. “This has to stop. This is terrible, this gun violence.”
Some residents near the scene only learned about the shooting after hearing police choppers overhead.
“I heard the chopper like it was in my bedroom. That’s how I knew it was close,” said one resident. “It’s so sad. My brother’s a cop. That’s really heartbreaking.”
The last police officer killed in the line of duty was Detective Randolph Holder, who was shot dead on Oct. 20, 2015, while responding to a shooting near E. 102nd St. and First Ave. in East Harlem.
Tyrone Howard, a career criminal, was charged with his murder. He is still awaiting trial.
The shooter’s mother-in-law, Carol Giattino, 54, told the Daily News the rampage wasn’t out of character for Rosales.
“He was my son in law, unfortunately,” she said. “I’ve seen all the results of his violence. He was a very violent person and I’m so sorry this happened to the officers. . . . He violated an order of protection and nobody took it seriously.”
Rosales has been arrested twice earlier this year for domestic violence in Suffolk County.
In July, he was locked up in Bay Shore for grabbing his wife by the hair and yanking her head — violating an order of protection she had against him.
Rosales was due in court on Nov. 16.
The gunman’s father, also Manuel Rosales, told reporters to get off his Long Island property Friday night.
Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner James O'Neill speak to the media at Jacobi Hospital in the Bronx, New York City following the fatal shooting of an NYPD sergeant. (GARDINER ANDERSON FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)
A procession of police vehicles escorts the body of NYPD Sgt. Paul Tuozzolo from Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx Friday night. (GARDINER ANDERSON FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)
WITH ADAM SCHRADER, GRAHAM RAYMAN, KERRY BURKE, BEN KOCHMAN, ROSS KEITH, LAURA DIMON, MOLLY CRANE-NEWMAN, MEGAN CERULLO, DENIS SLATTERY