Metro

Detective in Sean Bell shooting found guilty of violating NYPD guidelines

The cop who touched off the 50-bullet shooting rampage that resulted in Sean Bell’s death was found to have violated NYPD rules after panicking and blowing his cover, authorities said today.

Det. Gescard Isnora was acting recklessly and outside department guidelines when he fired the first shot at a car carrying Bell and his pals outside a nightclub in Queens in November 2006, the NYPD alleged during the departmental trial.

Isnora, who was in plainclothes at the time of the shooting, could lose his job as a result of the verdict, sources told The Post.

Isnora was found guilty on both counts: firing outside the guidelines and coming out of his undercover role, according to Tuesday night’s verdict.

The trial commissioner’s recommendation is termination, a decision which is now in NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly’s hands. There is no timeline for action.

The cop had testified that he followed Bell and his friends from a Jamaica strip joint, Kalua Club, because he thought Bell’s pal Joseph Guzman was going to retrieve a gun.

Isnora said he opened fire after he was clipped by Bell’s car and saw Guzman’s arm go up and thought he yelled “gun.”

Isnora had also admitted that he never actually saw a weapon.

“Every officer is responsible for every round fired from his weapon,” NYPD special counsel Nancy Slater said three weeks ago at the trial’s conclusion. “His actions are not criminal in any way, [but] his choices and actions show he should not be a member of the department.”

For five years, the cops have hidden behind their lawyers, who argued that the officers unloaded on the car because they thought one of the passengers had a gun.

No gun was ever recovered on the men or inside their car.

Michael Palladino, president of the Detectives Endowment Association, disagreed with the outcome.

“I disagree with the trial commissioner’s verdict,” he said. “There is still a penalty phase in this process and I reserve further comment until that phase is completed.”

At the same time, Officer Michael Carey was acquitted of all charges, officials said.

Carey said he fired three rounds at Bell’s Nissan after a fellow cop yelled “gun.”

At trial, Isnora and three other officers were acquitted of all charges during a bench trial in Queens Supreme Court.

Carey was never criminally charged in the case.