Metro

Jail guard: I thought I shot burglar, not my son

A city correction officer claims he accidentally shot his son after mistaking him for an intruder — contradicting the youth’s charge that his dad opened fire during a fight over the teen’s shoplifting arrest.

Robert Smalls, 39, told cops he was asleep when Quasaun Smalls, 17, returned to their Woodside home early Sunday morning and woke him with his footsteps, prosecutor Robin Kwalbrun said during the father’s arraignment in Queens Criminal Court yesterday.

According to Kwalbrun, Robert Smalls said that he shouted, “Police, stop!” when he “saw the person grab at his waist” in the dark and that “the gun discharged” before he realized who it was.

Defense lawyer Robert Troxler said Robert Smalls, who’s charged with assault and weapon possession, “doesn’t have 20/20 vision” and “is willing to testify in the grand jury.”

Quasaun said his dad shot him after an argument between them turned violent.

The correction officers union is “fully supportive of our officer,” said Norman Seabrook, the group’s president.