ROBBINSDALE, Minn. — A southern Minnesota police officer who was shot in the head last month while responding to a report of a suspicious person in a backyard is out of intensive care and spent the weekend in an acute care facility, according to an update on CaringBridge.
Waseca Officer Arik Matson, 32, left North Memorial Health Hospital in Robbinsdale and is at an unspecified facility for longer-term care, his sister-in-law Nicole Matson wrote on a CaringBridge page. She said the hospital had a send-off for Matson before he left.
"The doctors felt we were ready to graduate from the ICU and gave us the ok to move to a longer term acute care facility. We headed out to our new hospital this afternoon and the North Memorial staff had a big send off for Arik :) Had his pain meds not kicked in about 5 minutes before our send off he would have been more awake to see it but there’s no doubt he knew what was going on," Nicole Matson wrote.
Nicole Matson added that he was also able to eat a few ice chips and a "bite or two" of applesauce Monday morning, but he's still not allowed to eat regularly.
"Arik has been super smiley the last few days and you can tell he’s just as proud of his progress as we are! He’s in good spirits and loving all the visits he gets :) Keep those prayers and good vibes coming," Nicole Matson said in a later post on CaringBridge.
Arik Matson was shot Jan. 6 while he and other officers were responding to a report of a suspicious person in a backyard. Tyler Janovsky, 37, is charged with multiple counts, including three counts of first-degree attempted murder.
Janovsky has a court hearing scheduled for Tuesday, the Star Tribune reported. A motive hasn't been disclosed but a search warrant affidavit said Janovsky, who has a violent past, “had discussed his desire and intent to commit ‘suicide by cop.’”
Waseca is located 70 miles south of Minneapolis.
