Gunman nails NYPD van, 7 officers escape

They were sitting ducks.

A maniac opened fire on a marked NYPD van outside a gritty Bronx housing project just moments after the cops picked up two officers from foot patrol, The Post has learned.

Seven cops in the van, including a sergeant, described the terrifying hail of gunfire as “pings” bouncing off the roof and sides of the van.

Amazingly, none of the officers was struck.

“They could have been killed,” said a law-enforcement source.

“They’re lucky to be alive. It’s a cowardly act.”

The bullets started flying at 3:35 a.m. on New Year’s Day outside the Millbrook Houses on East 137th Street in Mott Haven, law-enforcement sources said.

The assailant squeezed off at least seven shots with a semiautomatic handgun, the sources said.

As the bullets rained down, the startled officers heard “thuds” on the roof of their vehicle.

The van driver made a U-turn and gunned the engine, zooming down East 137th Street until reaching Cypress Avenue — safely out of the line of fire, sources said.

The officers quickly checked for injuries among themselves before turning back toward the scene.

A swarm of cops rushed to the high-rise at 640 E. 137th St., from where they believed the bullets came, law-enforcement sources said.

They conducted a floor-by-floor sweep of the blighted building, recovering seven shell casings, sources said.

During a further search of the street below, the cops recovered 10 bullet fragments, including eight copper and two lead-jacketed bullet fragments that were deformed. Another bullet was embedded in the body of the van.

Investigators rounded up prisoners busted that night near the Millbrook Houses and grilled them for leads to the identity of the brazen shooter, sources said.

The reckless targeting of uniformed cops comes three weeks after Police Officer Peter Figoski was shot to death on Dec. 12, allegedly by gun-toting burglar Lamont Pride, in East New York, Brooklyn.