COPS KILL FIEND

Sex criminal ‘shot at’ LES warrant officers

A violent sex offender wanted for a shooting and a slew of crimes was killed by cops Thursday after he opened fire on officers during a 2½-hour standoff inside a Lower East Side apartment, police said.

Chaos erupted when Kent Edwards barricaded himself inside the second-floor apartment bathroom at 206 Eldridge St. around 11:45 a.m., when police knocked on the door and served a search warrant, according to officials.

Two women answered and when police learned Edwards had a gun, ESU officers converged on the building, Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey said at a press conference.

The women fled while officers used drones and other technology to coax 43-year-old Edwards into surrendering, officials said.

But Edwards, of The Bronx, “rendered a lot of the technology useless” — smashing a drone with a broom while asking to see his sister whom police were unable to get in touch with, Maddrey said.

Edwards — who had 11 prior arrests — also requested water and medicine.

When police followed a rolling camera inside the apartment, the cornered man unleashed four bullets at police, Maddrey said. A projectile hit an officer’s bulletproof vest and two shields were struck.

Cops then fired twice, fatally hitting Edwards in the lower back.

He was rushed to a hospital but couldn’t be saved.

Edwards was wanted for allegedly shooting a rival after a fight broke out between him and a married couple inside Iggy’s Bar at East 76th Street and Second Avenue over the use of a photo booth.

Long rap sheet

“This argument quickly escalates and spills out to the street where Mr. Edwards shoots his victim one time in the left leg and pistol-whips him to his head,” Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said.

Edwards was also wanted for other crimes, including forcible touching in March on the Lower East Side, a strangulation last year in Long Island City. An active bench warrant was issued for failing to register as a sex offender, according to police and sources.

He served a 12-year prison stint for attempted rape, prison records show, and was paroled in 2012.

BARRICADED: NYPD officers in bulletproof vests and toting shields (above) serve a warrant on Kent Edwards (right) Thursday at 206 Eldridge St. — fatally shooting him after he allegedly fired at them, striking a vest and two shields (below).