Neighbor: Accused killer of NYPD cop Brian Moore was holding gun

Soon after NYPD Officer Brian Moore was shot in 2015, a licensed contractor on Tuesday testified that he saw Demetrius Blackwell running through his backyard, carrying a weapon.

“He had a gun in his hand,” said Edward Spencer, 59, of Queens Village, who lives near where the shooting happened.

Spencer told jurors in Queens County Criminal Court in Kew Gardens that he recognized the man running as Blackwell because he had known him for five to six years, and that Blackwell once lived in his basement apartment.

Queens prosecutors alleged that Blackwell shot at Moore and his partner, Erik Jansen, on May 2, 2015 after the officers, who worked in the anti-crime unit, stopped Blackwell on the street and questioned him. Blackwell fled, but was arrested about an hour and half after the shooting.

Blackwell, 37, is on trial on charges of first-degree murder in Moore’s death, attempted murder and other charges. If convicted of first-degree murder, he faces life in prison without parole.

Moore, 25, of Plainedge, was taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where he died two days after the shooting. Jansen was not hurt.

In his opening statement last week, David Bart of Flushing, Blackwell’s attorney, said his client suffered from epilepsy and had head surgery two years before the shooting. Bart said he planned to raise the issue of Blackwell’s mental health.

At the time of the shooting, about 6:15 p.m., Spencer testified that he was watching TV.

“I heard three gunshots,” said Spencer.

He immediately went to the kitchen window, and saw a man he recognized as Blackwell running from his neighbor’s house.

“He jumped over the fence, and he jumped over into my yard,” Spencer said.

The gun, Spencer said, was in Blackwell’s hand the entire time he saw him running.

Although Spencer was unable to see weapon’s handle in Blackwell’s right palm, he said he saw the cylinder, about six to eight inches long, and it was “silver looking.”

Investigators later found a silver handgun, a Taurus Model 85 revolver, in the backyard of a house not far from 104th Road and 212th Street in Queens Village, where the shooting occurred. Authorities said DNA evidence discovered on it linked Blackwell to the weapon.

Other witnesses who testified Tuesday included Det. Colin Sparks of the 105th Precinct.

While canvassing the neighborhood, Sparks said he approached three people outside 104-25 212th Place and asked whether they heard or saw the shooting.

According to Sparks, Blackwell, who gave a false name, said he was inside the house and didn’t see anything.

Retired Det. Anthony D’Amato, who was working in the crime scene unit the night Moore was shot, testified that he recovered two bullets at the scene of the shooting.

One bullet was fired from outside of the unmarked police car into the driver’s side door, D’Amato said. The other bullet struck the rear passenger window.

Testimony is scheduled to resume Wednesday before state Supreme Court Justice Gregory Lasak.