Police are on the hunt for a gun-totting thug who was caught on video running away after he ambushed and shot a man in the Bronx.

The attacker ran up and shot a 25-year-old man once in the thigh as he walked along McClellan St. near Morris Ave. in Morris Heights shortly before 1 a.m. on Sept. 20.

The gunman then fled but was caught on a nearby surveillance camera running up the street, holding the the gun in his right hand.

The victim was taken to Lincoln hospital where he was treated and released.

It is not clear what prompted the bloodshed, said police. Nothing was taken from the victim, and the robbery does not appear to be the motive, police sources said.

Police did not provide a description of the triggerman.

Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD Crime Stoppers tipline at 1-800-577-TIPS.

Police are on the hunt for a gun-totting thug who was caught on video running away after he ambushed and shot a man in the Bronx.

The attacker ran up and shot a 25-year-old man once in the thigh as he walked along McClellan St. near Morris Ave. in Morris Heights shortly before 1 a.m. on Sept. 20.

The gunman then fled but was caught on a nearby surveillance camera running up the street, holding the the gun in his right hand.

The victim was taken to Lincoln hospital where he was treated and released.

It is not clear what prompted the bloodshed, said police. Nothing was taken from the victim, and the robbery does not appear to be the motive, police sources said.

Police did not provide a description of the triggerman.

Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD Crime Stoppers tipline at 1-800-577-TIPS.

IN THE CITY that produced “Serpico” and “Prince of the City,” the Bronx ticket-fixing mess hasn’t quite achieved the cinematic sweep of previous NYPD scandals – at least not yet.

The indictment of 17 cops isn’t good news for the department, but it’s not as crippling as past corruption cases across its 166-year history.

“As of what we know now, this does not rank with the great scandals of the past,” said NYPD historian Tom Reppetto.

“These charges are much, much smaller. What is going to attract the attention is the number of people involved. The headline is ’17 Cops Indicted,’ and hundreds more are ticket-fixers.”

Police scandals date back to the days before Teddy Roosevelt became police commissioner in 1895 – and almost routinely crop up every 20 years, with the last great one in 1992.

When 75th Precinct Officer Michael Dowd was busted, it exposed a crew of corrupt cops who robbed drug dealers for dope and cash – and led to the Mollen Commission.

Back in 1971, Detective Frank Serpico spilled the beans on his crooked co-workers before the Knapp Commission – which found rampant bribery in the NYPD.

Detective Robert Leuci went undercover the same year and exposed 52 rogue cops in the Special Investigation Unit. His work later became the movie, “Prince of the City,” which included a character based on prosecutor Tom Puccio. Now a defense lawyer, Puccio represents one of the cops under suspicion in the ticket-fixing case.

More recently, the department was rattled by the Mafia Cops – two veteran NYPD detectives convicted as hit men for the Luchese crime family.

Reppetto warned that further investigation could involve police brass or expose additional wrongdoing.

“Once in a while, you see something in one of these stories that is going to lead somewhere else,” the former cop said. “So far, this does not measure up to the past.”

lmcshane@nydailynews.com

Cops seized a shocking stockpile of high-powered weapons during a raid on an alleged cocaine distribution center in a Bronx apartment, authorities said Thursday.

During a search of the Villa Ave. home of suspected gangster Victor Miri, police found a small amount of drugs but an arsenal of 12 firearms, including five assault weapons, according to the city’s Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.

Miri, 29, and his brother, Tonin Miri, 30, were arrested on gun and drug possession charges after the Wednesday raid.

The eye-popping bust was the result of an investigation by the NYPD’s Manhattan gang unit.

It also turned up a frightening array of extended magazines and boxes of ammunition, night vision goggles, binoculars, a bullet proof vest and M-80 explosives with fuses and detonator caps, cops said.

Most of the weapons were discovered in a suitcase in the bedroom of the apartment, they said.

The police also recovered small amounts of cocaine and marijuana and all the equipment necessary to operate a drug ring: four high-tech scales, an electronic money counter, a cocaine grinder, a vacuum seal presser and small plastic bags.

The alleged gun-packing drug runners were arraigned yesterday in Manhattan court on a slew of charges, including criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of marijuana and criminal use of drug paraphernalia.

Victor Miri, the suspected ring leader, was held on 0,000 bail.

His older brother, who has spent time in a federal prison and was released in 2008, had his bail set at ,000 bond and ,000 cash.

Their lawyer, Stacey Richman, described the brothers as “hardworking individuals” and “solid members of the community.”

Richman said Victor Miri is employed as a bookkeeper at an accountant’s office and his brother is a union laborer.

The seized weapons have yet to be tested and may not be operable, argued Richman.

“I don’t think people should make assumptions about these men,” she said.

“I think that night vision goggles are really cool. There’s no problem if anybody wants to buy night vision goggles.”

Richman said the brothers’ next court date is March 17.