Officer Ashley Hoggard called the feeling of walking out of Temple University Hospital on his own two feet "indescribable."
Hoggard was released Tuesday after spending more than a week nursing a gunshot wound to the shoulder. He was injured while responding an early morning shootout at a North Philadelphia bar on June 14. Surveillance video from inside the bar caught a man handing out guns from a trashbag following the officer's shooting.
"God bless everyone who played a part in this. I'm truly thankful and truly happy to be here," the officer said.
He especially thanked his fellow officers and the hospital staff who kept him from becoming the sixth police officer to be killed in the line of duty in less than a year.
"The hospital staff especially -- everybody in Temple who gave their all. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for them," he said.
There were a few tense moments during the officer's recovery. Doctors placed him in intensive care after he developed complications related to the injury.
Hoggard also credited strangers for helping with his speedy recovery. "All the cards I received from strangers and people that just felt my pain -- from the bottom of my heart, thank you truly and God bless all of you. I love you all."
Police arrested two men for their connection to the shootout, but they were not charged with the officer's shooting.