By Thomas Tracy
New York Daily News
NEW YORK — Photos were released Thursday of the on-the-loose suspect in the shooting of a rookie NYPD cop responding to a fight over a seat on a Queens bus.
The NYPD is asking the public’s help identifying the suspect, who has a tattoo of the name “Jocelyn” on his left hand, and offering a $10,000 reward for his arrest and conviction.
NYPD Officer Brett Boller is recovering at Jamaica Hospital after being shot Wednesday in Jamaica, Queens.
Boller had been flagged down by an MTA bus driver on Jamaica Ave. about 3:20 p.m. Wednesday, NYPD Chief of Department James Essig said.
When the 22-year-old officer boarded the bus to find out what was going on, the suspect muscled his way off and fled down 161st St., cops said. Boller and his partner gave chase.
Around mid-block, in front of the Salvation Army Community Center, Boller caught up with the man, Essig said. As they grappled, the suspect pulled a gun and shot the officer in the leg.
As Boller fell to the pavement bleeding, his partner fired twice at the fleeing gunman, according to Essig. It’s unknown if the assailant was hit, he added.
NYPD detectives tracked down surveillance footage of the suspected shooter ducking into a parking garage and shedding a black bubble jacket and orange hoodie before leaving in a white T-shirt, cops said.
A second man, believed to be the man the suspect was fighting with over a seat, is in custody after fighting with cops who responded to the scene.
Boller, the son of NYPD Deputy Inspector Donald Boller, is in stable condition at Jamaica Hospital.
The rookie cop graduated in the same academy class as an officer who was wounded on New Year’s Eve in Times Square by a machete-wielding Maine man who had recently converted to Islam, police say.
[RELATED: NYPD officers attacked by machete-wielding man, suspect shot near New Year’s Eve event]
Three officers wounded in that attack were honored Wednesday morning by Mayor Adams and NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell.
“We began our day today by honoring three of our members who performed in a heroic manner, injured in Times Square on New Year’s Eve,” NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said during a press conference at Jamaica Hospital “And now, less than 10 hours later, we are back in a hospital with another officer injured, this time shot by another firearm on our streets.”
Cops are asking anyone with information on the suspect to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.
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