PATERSON — A man pointed a gun at a police detective and was shot and killed by a cop early this morning, authorities said.

The Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office is now investigating the death of 44-year-old Etoine Baucum.

Baucum was armed with an undetermined firearm in the area of 85 Montgomery St. when police arrived at 2:20 a.m., said Michael DeMarco, the chief assistant Passaic County Prosecutor.

Detectives ordered him to drop his weapon — but Baucum did not comply, said DeMarco.

Instead, Baucum pointed the gun at one of the responding detectives — and another detective fired his service weapon at the suspect and killed him with a single shot, the prosecutor added.

Baucum was transported to St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead, authorities said.

Baucum’s death is being investigated by the prosecutor’s Shooting Response Team, DeMarco said. The gun Baucum was allegedly holding during the incident was located and recovered — and witnesses to the shooting death were located and interviewed, the prosecutor added.

The Paterson police declined comment.

In January, a Paterson cop shot and killed a home-invasion suspect who was armed with a knife during a struggle.

Last Saturday, the Passaic County Prosecutor responded to a police-involved shooting in Wayne in which a man holding his mother at knifepoint was shot by an officer — but survived.

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