‘Armed and dangerous’ suspect in Newark cop shooting in custody

The “armed and dangerous” suspect who allegedly shot two New Jersey cops was arrested Wednesday after spending the night hiding out at the scene of the crime, police said.

Kendall Howard, 30, was on the lam for less than 24 hours when cops found him inside an apartment in the same housing complex where he had opened fire on the officers Tuesday afternoon.

Howard — who had been the subject of a massive overnight manhunt — was taken into custody at around 11 a.m. “without incident,” Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said at a news conference Wednesday.

“There’s relief for many families in the neighborhood that I actually live in and relief for citizens across the city of Newark that felt the police did their job and did it well,” Baraka said.

One of the injured officers, identified as Jabrill Paul, was released from the hospital early Wednesday evening, News12 reported. The second will be discharged within the next couple of days.

“In reference to the officers that were shot, both of them are doing well,” Newark Public Safety Director Fritz Fragé said at the press conference.

“Both have 1.5 years on the job,” Fragé said. “One-point-five years and they had to deal with a traumatic incident like this.”

The cops were questioning Howard over an unrelated Oct. 28 shooting at around 2 p.m. near Chancellor Avenue and Van Velsor Place when he allegedly pulled out a gun and opened fire on them. Both were hospitalized in stable condition at University Hospital in Newark after the shooting, according to police.

Police body-camera footage obtained by The Post on Wednesday captures the moment the incident turned violent during the gunman’s attempted questioning.

One cop is seen grabbing the shooter’s arm just as he flees the officers.

“Oh s–t,” the cop is heard yelling. “Shots fired! Shots fired!”

Disturbing video footage from the scene then shows one of the wounded cops writhing on the ground in a pool of blood — with a bystander seen holding a towel to the officer’s neck.

The woman had been driving by when she got out of her car to come to the cop’s aid and helped drag him to safety, Baraka said.

“This goes against all of the narratives that people put out there nationally and statewide about police and community,” the mayor said. “Our residents in Newark have shown several times over and over again that they’re willing to put themselves in the way of police and harm and work collaboratively with the police.”

Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore Stephens would not give details on the case that Howard was being questioned about when he allegedly opened fire.

“We are in the midst of this long and very arduous investigation,” he said. “So, we’re not able to determine fully what’s happened. We have him in custody and we’re speaking with him now.”

Stephens also declined to provide details of the police shooting.

“He was in the residence, the location where the shooting took place,” Stephens said of the suspect. “You take it from there. In terms of anything else, that’s still part of the investigation going forward, including the weapons, all evidence at this point.”

Just hours after the shooting, Newark police said they were responding to another shooting in the city, this one wounding three people — including a 6-year-old girl.

Officials said the youngster suffered a collapsed lung but was expected to recover from her injuries.