"Girl saved during Brooklyn police chase by cop's cool trigger finger,"

By Wil Cruz - NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

A quick-thinking Brooklyn cop who had a fleeing armed robber in his cross hairs didn't pull the trigger - because a 6-year-old girl jumped into his line of fire.

Ashanti Williams ran out of her Bedford-Stuyvesant apartment just as police were chasing ex-con Robert Davis for allegedly robbing a teenager. Gun drawn and ordering Davis to stop, the 32-year-old police officer saw Ashanti and held up.

"It looked like he was about to shoot," said mom Monddy Pollas, 29. "He had a clear shot but I feel like he didn't shoot because my daughter was there."

Instead, he told his partner - who cut Davis off at Marion St. and Howard Ave. - to open fire, said NYPD spokesman Paul Browne.

"He's telling him, 'Shoot him, Shoot him!'" Browne said.

The 31-year-old cop fired two shots, hitting Davis once in the stomach. Davis underwent surgery early Friday and was in serious but stable condition at Kings County Hospital. Police recovered a 10-mm. Glock at the scene. Davis, who has prior arrests for marijuana, was charged with robbery, possession of a weapon and menacing.

Davis' namesake grandfather happened to be walking by when the gunfire erupted at 6:45 p.m. - but didn't realize his grandson had been shot.

"I saw the youngster on the floor, not knowing it was my grandson," said Davis, a 66-year-old retired plant manger. "I just walked away."

"If he's wrong, arrest him," said his grandmother, who didn't want her name used. "But don't shoot him."

The cop who pulled the trigger passed a Breathalyzer test, police said. The NYPD's internal affairs unit is investigating the shooting. Ashanti, meanwhile, was grateful for the veteran cop's grace under fire.

"Thank you for not shooting when I was there," she said.