The rodent survived its brush with death in the Manhattanville Station, sources said. View Full Caption Shutterstock

MANHATTAN — A Postal Service police officer started shooting when he was spooked by a rat in a darkened Post Office Friday morning, sources said.

The officer had his gun and flashlight drawn as he investigated an alarm that went off at the Manhattanville Station of the USPS at 365 W. 125th St., near St. Nicholas Avenue, sources said.

He was scouring a dark room when a rodent leaped out at him from the shadows, sources said.

The officer pulled the trigger and a bullet ricocheted off the floor into a concrete wall, sources said.

The bullet missed the rat, which survived, sources said.

The Postal Service's Inspector General is investigating the shooting, sources said.