By Trevor Kapp and Mary Johnson
DNAinfo Staff
WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — The detective who shot and killed an armed man in a 145th Street subway station was released from Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital on Wednesday morning to the applause of roughly 60 fellow police officers.
Det. Kevin Herlihy, a married father of three, did not discuss his condition as he left the hospital in a wheelchair, with a bandaid on his right hand. But he raised his left arm — the arm struck by a bullet during the incident — and gave the crowd of police officers and reporters a thumbs up.
“I just want to go home and see my wife and wish her a happy Valentine’s Day,” Herlihy said before leaving the hospital in a Chrysler Town & Country minivan.
Herlihy, the third New York City police officer injured in gunfire in the past two months, was shot at as many as six times at close range inside the subway station at 145th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue on Tuesday afternoon, police said.
Despite his wounds, he managed to return fire and kill the shooter, 52-year-old Michael McBride.
No one else was injured in the barrage of gunfire.
Sources said that Herlihy was part of a team investigating McBride, who allegedly shot his ex-girlfriend in the face. The woman remains in very critical condition at North Shore University Hospital.
Michael Palladino, the head of the Detectives Endowment Association, said that he was at the hospital last night when Herlihy’s wife arrived.
“It was a very moving and touching moment when she finally got to speak with him, and they exchanged a very moving ‘I love you’ for Valentine’s Day,” Palladino said.
''We're very lucky the way this turned out,” Palladino added, “and my message to the criminals of the city is, if they think the year 2012 is gonna be open season on cops, I highly recommend they think twice.''
After the subway station shooting on Tuesday, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly commended Herlihy for his bravery in the face of danger.
"Fortunately, we had another miraculous outcome today, with an officer shot at close range, just 10 feet away," Kelly said of the 22-year veteran.
"He not only survived, but was able to stop his assailant from shooting anyone else."
Mayor Michael Bloomberg echoed Kelly’s praise.
"He is the kind of detective that you'd want out there protecting us," Bloomberg said.
