Cops recovering as NYPD continues hunt for Bronx shooting suspects

Police continued their manhunt today for the two men suspected of shooting and wounding two NYPD plainclothes officers in the Bronx late Monday.

Authorities are still on the lookout for at least one man accused of wounding two cops who tracked a gunman and accomplice from a deli they had just robbed on East 180th Street, to a Chinese restaurant four blocks away.

The men briefly exchanged gunfire with the officers before running away.

The gunman and his cohort were described as Latino men aged 25 to 30, wearing dark clothing. One suspect had a close-cropped beard, NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said at an early-morning press conference, and may have been wounded.

Shortly after the shooting, detectives responded to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in Washington Heights after doctors reported a man came into the emergency room with a gunshot wound to his back.

Police are checking if the wounded man is tied to the shooting. Detectives found an abandoned white Camaro at 188th Street and Park Avenue that they believe had been carjacked by the suspects.

Cops also recovered a black revolver nearby that they believe one of the suspects used to shoot Officers Andrew Dossi, 30, and Aliro Pellerano, 38.

Dossi was shot in the arm and back, Pellerano in his arm and chest. Both were in stable condition at St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx early Tuesday, and are expect to survive.

Dossi and Pellerano were assigned to the 46th Precinct’s five-member anti-crime team.

Speaking alongside Bratton, Mayor Bill de Blasio said the shooting was another indicator of the dangers NYPD officers face.

“We depend on them to keep this whole city safe,” he said. “They do it with extraordinary skill and professionalism, and there are profound dangers – and we saw examples of that this evening. But again, thank God, these officers will recover.”

Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch sent out a statement at midday Tuesday pointing to the shooting as evidence that officers are not slowing down their patrols, despite various reports of a drop in citations and arrests since two officers were murdered in Brooklyn late December.

“New York City police officers, who could have closed their lockers and gone home after their shift ended, chose to respond to robbery in progress and sadly, were shot in the process,” Lynch wrote.

“Our members are out there doing their jobs and putting themselves in danger to keep this city safe just as they always do,” he added.

The organization Citizens Outraged at Police Being Shot, or COP SHOT, has offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the gunmen.