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An armed crew tried to rob an off-duty NYPD lieutenant of his jewelry outside of a Queens nightclub Thursday morning — sparking a shootout that killed one of the suspects and left the officer in critical condition, police said.

Lt. Nathan Yakubov, 44, had just left La Boom nightclub in Woodside and was walking to his Jaguar SUV at 3 a.m. when three men targeted him, sparking a gunfight on Northern Boulevard and 57th Street, police sources said.

The attackers fired at least nine bullets at Yakubov, who was struck in the chest and right leg, police sources said. He was rushed to Elmhurst Hospital in critical but stable condition.

One of the suspects, Ramierik Lopez, 20,  was shot in the chest and stomach as the others fled. He was taken to Elmhurst Hospital and pronounced dead at 3:35 a.m., NYPD Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said at a press conference.

A second suspect, Christian Cruz, 19, initially escaped with injuries but was later taken into custody by police after he walked into Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx seeking treatment, according to police sources.

A third suspect was still at large on Thursday afternoon.

Yakubov fought back against the would-be robbers by firing at least eight rounds, Shea said.

“We believe we have eight shots fired by our officer. We believe we have nine shots fired at this point in time  — that could change — by the suspects,” he continued.

“We do not know — it would be too early to say if it’s all fired by one suspect, but ballistics and video will come together and we’ll get a clearer picture on that.”

He went on to say that the lieutenant was lucky to survive.

“We just came from a briefing where we watched the body camera of the first responding officers, and I think we would have a very different outcome if not for the professionalism of those FDNY paramedics and for what they did to save our officer’s life,” the city’s top cop said. 

“This officer had minutes to live,” added Lou Turco, president of the Lieutenants’ Benevolent Association.

Yakubov was conscious later Thursday morning, did not need surgery and was expected to survive, a police union source said. A group of cops visiting him at the hospital told The Post “he’s good” but declined to comment further.

One of the suspects’ semi-automatic handgun was found at the scene with an extended magazine, according to police sources.

Shea warned that the investigation is still in its early stages but said it’s believed the suspects in ski masks were looking to swipe the jewelry the officer was wearing.

Similar robberies outside high-end eateries and nightclubs have played out in recent months in Manhattan, with patrons targeted for their flashy jewelry.

The ring of thieves —  known as “OED” for “Own Every Dollar” — is believed to be behind at least 12 heists that have netted roughly $4 million in watches and jewelry since August, police have said.

“It would certainly fit the existing pattern that we have,” Shea said of the Thursday morning incident.

A police source later told The Post that the incident isn’t believed to be connected to the high-end crew that have popped up in Manhattan, though the robberies are spawning copycats at lower-end venues.

The lieutenant was on duty Wednesday night until just before midnight, and then showed up at the club, Shea said. He is a 15-year-veteran who works in Brooklyn’s 71st Precinct in Crown Heights, according to police sources.

A witness who was working inside La Boom told The Post they heard the melee unfold.

“I heard maybe 12 to 15 shots and I just threw myself on the floor,” he said. “It sounded like they were going back and forth.”

Rapper Myke Towers was performing at the club, known for its Latin music,  at the time of the shooting and it appeared he was escorted out when the shots rang out outside, said bouncer Dennis Martinez, 37.

“They took him off the stage,” Martinez, who was only on his second shift at the club, recalled. “He left immediately.”

But the club patrons were not immediately asked to leave, he said. 

“There was no fight,” Martinez said. “There was no kicking people out, nothing. It was actually a pretty nice night. Everything was orderly. It wasn’t rowdy at all.”

Martinez said he didn’t hear any shots while he was inside the club, but knew something was going on “because of the reactions of the other bouncers.”

“You know, they were just going outside to see what was happening,” he said. “I came outside for a quick second, but they told us to go inside. I didn’t get to see anything. I went right upstairs. The cops weren’t here yet.”

Surveillance camera footage appears to show a man running from the scene after gunfire lit up the street. 

Yakubov’s gray Jaguar SUV remained at the scene later in the morning, with a back window shattered and multiple shell casing markers next to it in the street.

Lopez, of the Bronx, had one prior arrest — for gang assault — in the Big Apple from last February, according to police sources.

He and three others allegedly beat another man with plywood, according to the sources.

Cruz has a criminal history that includes a January 2021 arrest for criminal possession of a firearm and fleeing an officer in a vehicle.

Turco said the shooting outside La Boom highlights the need to keep criminals off the street. 

“We got lucky tonight,” he said. “It’s like, when is this luck going to run out?”

“Stop with just getting guns off the street – change the narrative to get the individual and the gun off the street,” the union president added. “So let’s see if we can get that message out, because we’re losing it out there. There [are] too many guns out there and we’re going to run into one, and we’re not going to be as lucky.”

Incoming NYPD Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell weighed in on the officer-involved shooting during an appearance on Fox 5.

“I certainly don’t want to comment on that investigation — we can only have one police commissioner at a time,” she said. “But I certainly want to make sure the officer’s doing well, or at least recuperating, and my condolences to the family and friends of the person who is deceased.”

Additional reporting by Tina Moore, Khristina Narizhnaya and Natalie O’Neill