BOSTON, Massachusetts (REUTERS) - A Boston policeman has been released from the hospital two weeks after he was shot at close range by a man who was subsequently shot dead by other officers in an incident captured on video, authorities said on Saturday.

Mr John Moynihan, 34, has returned home and was continuing to recuperate following surgery to remove a bullet lodged in his neck, Boston police said in a statement.

His road to recovery "promises to be challenging," it added.

Massachusetts officials on Friday released surveillance video showing the near-fatal shooting of Mr Moynihan, a six-year veteran who was honored for his role in responding to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.

The decision to make the video public comes after the shooting last week of a black man in the back by a white police officer in South rekindled a national debate over use of force by law enforcement.

The deadly encounter, the latest in a string of highly publicised killings of African American men at the hands of police, was caught on video by a bystander.

Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said the video footage from the March 27 incident in the Boston neighbourhood of Roxbury was released to "tamp down speculation and rumours meant to inflame and not inform."

The video shows Mr Moynihan and two colleagues approaching a car during a traffic stop.

A man identified by police as 41-year-old Angelo West jumps out of the vehicle, shoots Moynihan in the face, and then runs out of the camera frame as Mr Moynihan falls to the ground.

The authorities say West, who had a criminal record including prior gun charges, was shooting at police as he ran.

Mr Moynihan's fellow officers returned fire, killing him.

The Suffolk District Attorney's office is investigating the shootings and has said it will release a full report on the incident.