Slain Gambino crime boss Francesco “Franky Boy” Cali tried to hide under his own SUV as a gunman blasted a dozen bullets at him from a 9 mm gun, NYPD officials revealed Thursday.

Initial reports said Cali had been both gunned down and run over when he was whacked outside his Staten Island home Wednesday night — but it now seems a witness misunderstood why the mob boss was under the rear of his Cadillac Escalade, cops said.

“What I believe happened was Mr. Cali was struck several times by gunfire. In trying to elude additional gunfire, fled to the rear area of his private vehicle and somebody probably thought he was run over, but it was more he was trying to get underneath the truck to elude gunfire,” Chief of Detectives Dermott Shea told reporters at a press conference.

Sources have told The Post investigators believe Cali was initially lured out of his family home when the gunman rammed into his silver SUV.

Shea said cops still don’t know exactly what prompted Cali to go outside but acknowledged the shooter backed his pickup truck into Cali’s parked vehicle, causing the SUV to “rock significantly” and it was “quite possible that was part of the plan.”

The shooter — a man aged approximately 25-40 years of age — and Cali then spoke for less than a minute before the gunman pulled out his 9 mm and started firing, Shea said.

“Whether it was an altercation or a conversation remains to be seen,” he said.

Cops recovered 12 shell casings at the scene, and at least six of the bullets struck Cali, he said.

Police were seen carefully removing Cali’s Cadillac from the scene Thursday.