12-year-old NYC boy was shot while playing with other kids in apartment lobby

A 12-year-old boy who was shot and injured in a Brooklyn apartment building lobby was playing with other kids when one of them pulled a gun on him — in what police believe was likely an awful accident, NYPD officials said Wednesday.

The pre-teen was with eight to 12 other youngsters hanging out at the building on Bristol Street near Dumont Avenue in Brownsville around 9:20 p.m. Tuesday when he was struck by a bullet in the left shoulder.

“Based on video and witness accounts, we believe one of the youths [removed] a magazine from a firearm, pointed it at the 12-year-old, and pulled the trigger,” NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig said at a press briefing.

“Based on that statement, the circumstances where the magazine was pulled out, we believe [the shooting] was probably accidental,” he continued, noting that the shooter may not have known there was an active round in the gun’s chamber when they pulled the trigger.

The injured boy, who lives nearby, remained intubated in stable condition at Maimonides Medical Center on Wednesday.

“We can’t talk to [the victim] yet. He’s still intubated,” Essig told reporters, adding the boy’s dad was cooperating with the investigation.

Police found a .380 shell casing and a matching Smith & Wesson firearm in the building lobby, Essig said.

The shooting was not captured on video, but there is footage showing the reaction of two women who were on the second floor at the time.

“We have a couple of females there who are witnesses, who say [to the shooter], ‘Hey, what did you do? What did you do?’” Essig said.

Essig confirmed that the others who were in the lobby — whom police believe to be “very young, under 16” — fled and have not come forward.

“We know there’s other people in the lobby and we’d like to talk to them,” he said.

The police description of the shooting matches that of the victim’s cousin, Saiquan Burgess, 25, who told The Post on Tuesday that his relative was injured while hanging out with other youngsters.

“When I came downstairs to ask him if he was OK, he said, ‘(Cousin), I got shot,’” he said.  “Then he looked at me and put his head down.”