Lombard for NewsAngel Alvarez's sister, Tisch Claff, outside Harlem Hospital. Alvarez was shot at least 21 times during a gunfight with police in Harlem. 

HOShooting victim Angel Alvarez.

The scene of the chaotic gunfight in Harlem this weekend.

The gunman who survived at least 21 bullet wounds in a Harlem shootout with cops probably broke a record, a forensic expert said Sunday.

"I would say more than 20 gunshot wounds is a record," said Dr. Vincent DiMaio, 69, a forensic pathologist and author of "Gunshot Wounds: Practical Aspects of Firearms, Ballistics, and Forensic Techniques."

"Of course, the real issue is where you get shot," he added. "One bullet can kill you, but believe it or not, a body can survive a lot of bullet wounds."

Angel Alvarez,  23, shot Luis Soto of the Bronx before falling in a hail of gunfire in a wild shootout with NYPD officers early Sunday, police said.

Alvarez's sister, Kimberley Creer, 29, said doctors confirmed they had removed at least 21 slugs from his body.

"That's ridiculous," she said. "In the arms, legs, abdomen, jaw. ... He's doing all right. He's talking."

Alvarez's lawyer, John Carney, put the number of shots at 23, but said his client was "awake and responding."

"He had chest and abdomen shots," Carney said. "It's a miracle. They missed the heart and major arteries."

DiMaio predicted that Alvarez would survive since the bullets missed vital organs and didn't cause excessive bleeding. The risk of infection remained the gunman's biggest hurdle.

"Listen, if you make it to thehospital and you can talk, 99% of the time, you'll make it," DiMaio said. "He'll survive."

DiMaio said the most gunshot wounds he'd ever examined in one person was 17, in aTexas man a decade ago. "Theguy was complaining about thepain," he said. "I told him, 'You're lucky to be alive.'"

In New York City, Joseph Guzman was struck at least 11 times in the 2006 police shooting that killed Sean Bell. Guzman received $3 million in a settlement with the city.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2010/08/09/2010-08-09_how_did_he_live_after_21_shots.html#ixzz0wILnBJCI