An NYPD detective shot in the arm while pursuing a suspect left the hospital Wednesday, teary-eyed and flashing a thumbs-up, as fellow officers stood and applauded.

Detective Kevin Herlihy, 47, was shot Tuesday inside the 145th Street station while following a man wanted in connection with an earlier shooting.

Herlihy, a father of three, choked up as he arrived at his Long Island home, telling reporters that he just wanted to spend time with his family and hug his kids.

“Thank you for the support,” he said. “I feel good.”

The suspect, Michael McBride, was shot in the chest and died in the confrontation with the detective Tuesday. The 52-year-old had been wanted for questioning in the shooting of his ex-girlfriend’s daughter a day earlier in Queens, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said. She remains in critical condition.

Herlihy, part of a squad in Queens that hunts wanted felons, was dressed in plainclothes Tuesday afternoon, tracking McBride near the man’s Harlem apartment. McBride realized he was being watched, and ducked into the subway at 145th Street in Harlem to elude the police, but detectives caught up to him in the subway, Kelly said.

McBride turned and fired at least three rounds, possibly six, before Herlihy returned fire, Kelly said, firing approximately 13 times. McBride went up a flight of stairs to a landing and collapsed, Kelly said. He was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.

It’s not yet clear how many times he was hit. A .22-caliber, six-shot revolver was recovered at the scene, and police found five bullets.

Remarkably, no one else was injured, authorities said.

(Source: NBC New York)