An NYPD officer was shot after chasing after a man with a gun in the Bronx Tuesday night, according to police.

Two anti-crime officers, both members of the department’s new public safety teams, were patrolling in uniform and in an unmarked police vehicle around 10:45 p.m., according to police. The cops saw a man just south of Third Avenue and Claremont Parkway in the Claremont section, and went to approach him when he took off on foot.

The officers ran after him, heading west before going up Bathgate Avenue during their block-and-a-half chase. That’s when the man turned toward them and fired two shots, NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig said at a press conference early Wednesday morning. One officer was struck in the left arm.

The officer was taken to Lincoln Hospital after getting struck in the arm, according to police. The officer’s condition was described as stable, and is expected to make a full recovery.

A 9-mm Glock handgun was recovered at the scene. Essig said that the firearm was stolen from Richmond, Virginia, in June 2021.

The suspect was identified as 25-year-old Rameek Smith,

Officer Dennis Vargas – an eight year veteran, whose father-in-law is also a cop — was taken to Lincoln Medical Center in stable condition and released hours later. Smith was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital in critical condition.

Mayor Eric Adams, in a press conference early Wednesday morning, said that the perpetrator had a long rap-sheet of crimes under his belt.

“This is what we’re dealing with…A perpetrator with multiple arrests”, Adams said.

According to Adams, the suspect’s most recent arrest came for criminal possession of a weapon, after he jumped over a subway turnstile without paying the fare while carrying a firearm in March 2020.

“The firearm was found when he committed the crime of jumping the turnstile in our subway system,” Adams said. “Here’s the problem…for 20 months, he remained on the street.”

“The sentencing was pushed off for 5 months. And then, it was pushed off again,” the mayor said.

“Our city is divided. The overwhelming number of New Yorkers are the good guys. A small number of violent people are the bad guys,” Adams said.

“You have family members in the city that are saying we’re tied of living in violence, and they are up against those who believe we should be spending our attention protecting criminals. It is time for us to stop spending our energy protecting people who are committing crime and violence. This person has an extensive arrest history, he has made up his mind – he was not going to stop until he took the life of an innocent person.”

Adams also slammed those who have pushed for reform in the criminal justice system, saying he was “tired” of the focus on police misdeeds, while not enough attention has been paid to ridding the city of crime.

“It is time for us to stop spending our energy protecting people who are committing crimes and violence. This person has an extensive arrest history. He has made up his mind: He was not going to stop until he took the life of an innocent person,” the mayor said. “I am tired of the complaints about officers who are doing their jobs.”

“Who the hell will protect the innocent New Yorkers in this city.”

“The number of shootings that we are responding to every night is despicable.”

“Under normal circumstances you would see a decrease in crime in the city, but the same criminals are continuing to come out in our streets committing violence over and over again. The city deserves better,” Adams said.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)