February 03, 2020 - 7:37 AM
MINNEAPOLIS - 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.
“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.
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 (110 kilometres) south of Minneapolis.
News from © The Associated Press, 2020