Metro

Hero cop who survived gunshot to head takes stand against thug accused of trying to kill him

The hero cop who miraculously survived a gunshot to the head was in a courtroom this afternoon to help put away the gangbanger who prosecutors say tried to kill him — testifying about a dramatic chase that ended with his body writhing in a pool of blood.

NYPD Sgt. Kevin Brennan took the stand at Brooklyn Supreme Court today, recounting in dramatic testimony how Luis Ortiz, 23, shot him and then taunted, “F– you, die!” at the Bushwick Houses apartment complex in January 2012.

Brennan — a detective at the time of the attack — described the harrowing details of the chase and struggle, fingering Ortiz as the man who shot him.

“I was chasing [Ortiz.] At the top of the steps he kind of fell over and I thought that was my best chance to tackle him,” Brennan recalled.

“He turned around [and] I put my head down to do a football tackle,” Brennan said, pausing as his voice choked up.

“I remember feeling [the bullet]. I don’t really know how to describe it. My momentum drove me forward and I fell on him. I remember my body shaking,” he said.

Brennan, who wore a pinstriped suit and a red tie in court, had earlier pointed at Oritz.

“He’s the man, right there in the gray shirt — he pointed the gun at us and almost laughed at us,” he said.

At one point, Assistant District Attorney Lewis Lieberman asked Brennan when, during the fight, he lost consciousness.

“The last thing I remember is [Ortiz] was saying, ‘F–k you, die!’ Brennan said.

Brennan’s stoic wife sat in court, holding a pack of Kleenex.

In January 2012, Brennan responded to a call to the Bushwick Houses after neighbors reported the sound of gunfire at the complex.

He and a team of officers pulled up and saw Ortiz run off, cops and prosecutors say.

Ortiz allegedly took off running , prompting Brennan to chase him down by car. Brennan then got out and chased him on foot into the building, he said.

That’s when Ortiz allegedly shot him in the head at the base of the scull, he said.

The wounded cop then collapsed onto Ortiz, according to prosecutors.

Brennan’s partners found him lying unconscious in a pool of blood. They soon learned the bullet did not pierce the officer’s skull — just lodged itself under his skin, cops and prosecutors said.

Brennan, who was back on his feet one week after the gunshot, later called himself, “The luckiest man on the planet.”

He was awarded the NYPD’s Combat Cross in a ceremony last week.

Ortiz faces an attempted murder rap for the Brennan shooting and a separate murder charge for the January 1 shooting of Shannon McKinney.