Rookie Queens Officer From Long Island Shot: NYPD

QUEENS, NY — A rookie NYPD officer from Hauppauge was shot in the hip Wednesday afternoon after he tried to break up a fight over an MTA bus seat in Queens, officials said.

Police are looking for the man who shot Brett Boller, 22, of Hauppauge, offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to the gunman's arrest, the NYPD said. Boller was listed in stable condition on Wednesday evening, police said.

Boller, a 103rd Precinct officer, was shot on 161st Street near Jamaica Avenue about 3:25 p.m., minutes after he and his partner had been hailed by an MTA bus driver, police said.

"He was flagged down by a community member who needed help, he was taking police action, then he was shot," Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said. "He was where our communities tell us they want their officers to be."

The officers tried to board the bus to break up the fight, but a man in a black bubble jacket shoved the officers out his way and ran down 161st Street, Chief of Detectives James Essig said. When the officers caught up with the man on 161st Street, he blasted Boller in the hip, dodged two shots from the other cop, then fled, Essig said.

Police released photos of the shooter, who they said ditched his jacket and other clothing in a parking garage near 161st Street and Hillside Avenue. The man was last seen wearing a white T-shirt and black pants, police said.

Boller was shot three months to the day after he started, Sewell said.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Cop Shot hotline 1-800 COP-SHOT (1-800 267-7468).