The veteran NYPD detective who was wounded in a subway gunfight with a suspect wanted for questioning in a young woman's shooting will be promoted this week.
Kevin Herlihy, 47, was shot in the arm last week inside Harlem's 145th Street station while pursuing Michael McBride. The 52-year-old suspect was shot in the chest and died in the confrontation. He had been wanted for questioning in the shooting of his ex-girlfriend's daughter a day earlier in Queens.
Herlihy, who was released from the hospital last Wednesday amid applause from fellow officers, told The New York Post he got the call about his upcoming promotion from Police Commissioner Ray Kelly this week.
Kelly asked the father of three if he would be attending the Friday promotion ceremony and Herlihy said, "Count me in, I'll be there," he told the Post.
Herlihy, a 21-year NYPD veteran, will be promoted from second-grade detective to first-grade after his brave performance in last week's incident.
The detective, part of a squad in Queens that hunts wanted felons, was dressed in plainclothes tracking McBride when the suspect realized he was being watched and fled into the subway. Herlihy ran after him.
McBride turned and fired at least three rounds, possibly six, before the officer returned fire, Kelly said, firing approximately 13 times. McBride went up a flight of stairs to a landing and collapsed, Kelly said.
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The woman he's believed to have shot in the head remains hospitalized, but Herlihy told the Post he hoped to visit her and be present on the day she is released.
He says he's anxious to get back to work once he recovers from his injury, but his family isn't so thrilled about the idea. His concerned 10-year-old son asked if "Daddy has to go back after the bad guys again," Herlihy said.
