A policeman who was shot in the head left a Manhattan hospital in a wheelchair as hundreds of uniformed officers gave him a thunderous round of applause.

NYPD Officer Kevin Brennan was smiling as he was steered through the lobby. His wife, Janet, was crying as she walked alongside him through the wall of blue.

The sound of bagpipes mingled with the applause. Brennan, who wore a New York Giants jersey, was immediately escorted into a waiting vehicle.

Brennan suffered mild brain damage from the bullet. It mostly caused a loss of some peripheral vision. His doctor says that's the only obvious outward sign that Brennan was shot.

NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly says Brennan is "totally functioning" and is excited to return home to his baby daughter.