Shocked witness Maureen Quinn, pictured talking immediately after the shooting, was close by as the drama unfolded.

NYPDThe silver imitation handgun that was held by a 23-year-old man before being shot by cops

Cops in Brooklyn shot dead a man who pointed an imitation pistol at them in a Monday afternoon confrontation outside an elementary school.

Students at Public School 194, in Sheepshead Bay, had been dismissed a half-hour earlier, but some were in a fenced-off area nearby, witnesses said.

Police were called to the scene, on Knapp Street, after getting a 911 call about a man with a gun.

When uniformed officers from the 61st Precinct arrived at about 3:10 p.m., the 22-year-old suspect pointed the silver gun - inscribed with Zebra-II - at them and refused orders to drop it, police sources said.

"We fired three times," the source said.

Maureen Quinn, who lives nearby, said she ran out of her house and "saw a body laying down on the street."

"I heard a cop tell another 'He pulled a gun on me,'" she said. "He was not moving. It was scary."

Another witness said the shooting officer holstered his gun when he realized the suspect wasn't moving.

"It's a shame,'' said another nearby resident, Joe Vigilant. "It really is. He looked young too."

The suspect was rushed to Coney Island Hospital, where he died at 4:11 p.m.

Department of Education spokeswoman Margie Feinberg said no children were outside at the time of the shooting.

Kerima Amer, who had had just picked up her two daughters at the school, said there were students in a fenced-in patio area just up the block.

"I can't imagine if it had happened two minutes earlier," she said.

Police sources said it appears the shots were fired by one officer, who has been on the force less than two years.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/03/08/2010-03-08_cops_shoot_dead_man_pointing_suspected_toy_gun_after_he_refuses_orders_to_drop_i.html#ixzz0hdIaxB1b