Metro

I was a hero: BK dad says he was protecting his family when he shot assault rifle at a group of teens

He did it to protect his family.

A Brooklyn dad on trial for shooting at a pack of rowdy teens with his assault rifle testified today he only fired because he was afraid for the lives of his wife and baby son – and he thought one of the teens had a gun.

“I thought they were going to break into my house and attack my wife,” said Thomas Dunikowski, 32, who fired 27 shots from his upstairs window and hit one of the teens in the neck outside his Marine Park home in June 2011.

“I saw one hand with a shiny metal object … I thought it was a gun and he made a sudden movement towards my wife.”

The teen shot in the neck survived and testified earlier in the trial. Another teen was hit by bullet fragments.

Dunikowski remained stoic on the stand as he described the “complete warzone” outside his house and the violent threats the 30 teens hurled at him and his family.

The wild teens even brandished a broken bottle and metal pipes pulled from scaffolding across the street as they massed outside his house, he said.

“[They said] ‘Motherf—–, now we’re coming in to kill you!’ They told my wife to suck their d—-,” Dunikowski said softly in Brooklyn Supreme Court.

“What were you trying to do?” assistant district attorney John Sharples asked Dunikowski.

“Stop him from hurting my wife,” Dunikowski answered.

“Did you consider yourself a hero that night?” Sharples pressed.

“Yes,” Dunikowski said.

Prosecutors have said the conflict started after the teens – who had been drinking and smoking marijuana – threw a beer can into the yard of Dunikowski’s neighbor and that escalated after Dunikowski punched one of the teens.

The defense rested after Dunikowski’s testimony and the attorneys will close Monday.

Dunikowski was charged with multiple counts of attempted murder and could get 25 years behind bars if convicted.

jsaul@nypost.com