The man police believe shot an off-duty cop during a botched robbery – leaving the hero Brooklyn officer in a catatonic state for 33 years until his death Saturday – is now packing an empty apology.

Tracy Clark insists he’s done his time for the shocking shooting of NYPD Officer Troy Patterson, who was washing his car in Bedford-Stuyvesant when three friends tried to rob the 27-year-old of just $20 on Jan. 16, 1990.

Police and prosecutors alleged Clark, then 15, pulled the trigger, and was later convicted of assault, attempted robbery and weapons possession. But he was acquitted of attempted murder and sentenced as a juvenile, avoiding a potential life term in favor of just months behind bars.

Now Clark and his accomplices from decades ago may face fresh charges – as the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office investigates Patterson’s death at a New Jersey rehab center. A spokesman told The Post the “entire case” is being reviewed, a process that may last several weeks.

Police union brass, meanwhile, insist homicide charges should be filed against Clark and his two accomplices in Patterson’s shooting. Patterson was washing his car when the three approached him demanding $20, and he was shot in the head with a .38 revolver.

“I don’t have too much to say about the situation,” Clark, now, 49, told The Post when informed Monday of Patterson’s death. “This is like a 30-year-old nightmare, know what I mean?”

In 1991, a Brooklyn judge transferred Clark’s case to Family Court because he was 15 when he was charged. At the time, the teen had already served 14 months in custody – just four months shy of the maximum sentence for juveniles in assault and related crimes.

Clark declined to discuss the possibility of facing new charges in the case and offered a partial apology to Patterson’s shattered relatives — but even said there was “truth” to come out despite his 1991 conviction.

“I’m sorry for their loss,” he said. “I’m sorry for everything they went through. I just hope one day that the truth will come out and the family, you know, can mourn in peace… I can’t even imagine what they’re going through.

“I ain’t gonna discuss nothing,” he added. “It was 1990, you know what I’m saying? I went through this 30-something years ago.”

“I have no comment about anything,” Clark told The Post during a brief phone interview. “I cannot stop New York with their investigation. Whatever they want to do, I’m pretty sure they’re going to do … I went to jail, I did what I had to do. If they can try me twice, then I guess they can try me twice.”

Clark will surrender to authorities if he’s charged again, he said

“If they’re looking for me and they get in touch with my mother and she says they want me to turn myself in, then I’ll do what I got to do,” he said. “But I ain’t running, and I ain’t going nowhere.”

In 2003, Clark was sentenced to 15 years in prison in South Carolina for possessing narcotics with intent to distribute in Orangeburg County. He was released from custody in late 2017, according to records reviewed by The Post.

Patterson’s shooting rattled a city already reeling from violence and which recorded a record 2,445 murders that year. It left his family shattered. His mother, Catherine Patterson, cared for her catastrophically wounded son every day until she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She died in 2007.

Patterson’s aunt, Doris Patterson-Brown, then took over as his primary caregiver until she passed away, leaving another aunt, May Patterson, to oversee his care. His relatives, friends, and fellow NYPD officers held candlelight vigils on the anniversary of the shooting while praying for his recovery.

Hundreds of NYPD officers paid their final respects on Monday to Patterson, 60, as his casket was taken to Erskine Funeral Home in Brooklyn.

Patterson’s son, Troy, who attended Monday’s ceremony as his father’s casket was adorned with a flag, told WPIX. “He was a hero. He made me want to be a better man and father to my children.”

Patterson, 38, fondly recalled riding in his father’s Nissan Maxima as a boy and regular trips to Red Lobster. That cherished childhood changed in an instant when Troy saw his dad “hooked up to all these machines” while in intensive care at Kings County Hospital after the shooting. The catastrophically wounded cop would never fully recover and remained confined to a wheelchair.

“He would feel our presence,” the younger Patterson said of his father. “He did recognize a lot of people’s voices. He would listen. He would laugh.”

The president of the NYC Detectives’ Endowment Association, Paul DiGiacomo, praised Patterson as a hero who inspired “hundreds of fellow detectives” to keep city streets safe.

Two other suspects arrested in Patterson’s 1990 shooting, Darren Crawford, 17, and Vincent Robbins, 20, both of Brooklyn, were later convicted of assault and attempted robbery. They were released from prison in 1995 and 2000, state records show. Attempts to reach the pair, now 50 and 53, respectively, were unsuccessful.

“I don’t know if it’s possible, but I would love to see charges brought against these individuals for the homicide of this detective,” DiGiacomo said. “You know, he received no parole from his wheelchair, and he lived with limited sight and limited ability to speak.”

But the three defendants convicted in Patterson’s robbery over a mere $20 served their sentences and remain free, an angry DiGiacomo said.

“That’s a real and pure injustice to the detective, his family, and all of their loved ones,” he said. “The loss of Det. Troy Patterson is part of the history and legacy of the NYPD. He will never be forgotten and his family will never be forgotten. The individuals responsible for his death should be behind bars, but they have to live with this tragedy for the rest of their lives. I hope it haunts them the way it haunted Troy Patterson’s family.”

But new charges in the case aren’t likely, veteran criminal defense attorneys told The Post.

“The acquittal on the attempted murder charge makes it less likely that Clark is charged,” Florida-based attorney Janet Johnson said. “A jury heard these same facts, with the exception of Patterson’s death, and weren’t persuaded enough to convict of the highest charge. I think a prosecutor would have to consider that their evidence hasn’t gotten better with the passage of time.”

Still, Johnson noted how Patterson had become a “legend” among his fellow NYPD officers.

“That may be the difference maker in whether prosecutors file charges,” she said.