Metro

College student sues NYPD over Empire State Building shootout

Chenin Duclos at a press conference today.

Chenin Duclos at a press conference today. (Dennis A Clark)

A North Carolina woman, who was injured during the wild police shoot-out with a gunman at the Empire State Building in August, is suing the city — charging NYPD officers created a “dangerous and deadly confrontation,” resulting in nine wounded bystanders.

Chenin Duclos, 32, was crossing 34th Street and 5th Avenue around 9 am on Aug. 24 when cops chased shooter Jeffrey Johnson through the crowded streets, the complaint states.

The suit, filed today in Manhattan Supreme Court, names the city, police department and officers Craig Matthews and Robert Sinishtaj as allegedly responsible for failing to “exercise proper police tactics and procedures during the incident.”

The suit describes the chaos that ensued after Johnson executed former coworker Steven Ercolino.

“Chenin Duclos was shot by a bullet fired from the gun of one of the individually named police officers while frantically running to get away from the bedlam and hysteria that was unfolding on the street around her,” the suit states. “The gunshot hit Ms. Duclos with such force that she was thrown to the ground. She remained in the crosswalk, shot, motionless, fearing for her life.”

The stray bullet, one of 16 shots fired before Johnson was fatally struck, “completely destroyed” the woman’s femur, the complaint explains. She was hospitalized and underwent physical therapy.

Duclos, of Chapel Hill, is working toward her Ph.D. in physical therapy at the University of North Carolina.

“Chenin was expected to graduate in August of 2014; however, due to the injuries suffered in the shooting, this date has been postponed,” a press release announcing the lawsuit stated.

Duclos is suing for unspecified damages.

The shooter, an unemployed designer facing eviction, had blamed his victim for his financial woes. He’d been fired from an import company where he worked with Ercolino, a salesman. Johnson laid in wait outside the 33rd Street building and fired five shots at Ercolino as he arrived for work.

Police caught up with Johnson around the corner on Fifth Avenue, killing the shooter and injuring the nine bystanders in a hail of bullets.

“These officers had to make split-second decisions in dealing with a life-threatening situation presented by an armed gunman who had just killed someone,” city Corporation Counsel Michael Cardozo said in a statement.

“The state’s highest court has recognized that police officers’ split-second decisions to use deadly force must be protected from this kind of second-guessing. To allow otherwise would have a chilling effect on the ability of our police to enforce the law and would put the lives of police officers and the public at risk. We will vigorously defend the officers.”