An NYPD sergeant was placed on modified duty Thursday as officials investigate his claim that he shot a man he said was trying to rob him in Brooklyn.

The shooting happened around 5 a.m. on Livonia Ave. near New Jersey Ave. in East New York.

Police said the sergeant was off-duty at the time and was headed to the 109th Precinct for work when the man approached him.

The NYPD initially said the man tried to rob the police officer, prompting the sergeant to shoot him twice, striking him once in the face. The man shot was rushed to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The sergeant has now been placed in an administrative job and taken off patrol, as Chief of Department Terence Monahan said in the afternoon that the NYPD is interviewing witnesses and looking at video from nearby cameras. The Brooklyn district attorney is also investigating.

Monahan said an initial review raised questions that compelled the department to put him on modified duty pending further investigation.

Sources told NY1 that the incident does not appear to be a robbery, but rather a dispute between the two men before the officer fired his gun.

Sources said it appears that the two men had a prior connection, although it is not clear what that was.

It's also not clear if the man was armed. Police Commissioner James O'Neill said no gun was found at the scene.

Police did not release the names of the man or the sergeant on Thursday.

The president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association tweeted Thursday morning that the shooting was justified, claiming the man was a gang member and had threatened to kill the officer.