Family: Waseca Police Officer Arik Matson Is 'Loving New Facility Out Of State'

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The sister-in-law of wounded Waseca police officer Arik Matson says he is adjusting to a new facility in a new state as he continues to recover from a traumatic brain injury.

In a CaringBridge post on Tuesday, Nicole Matson added that the Matson family hasn't been able to visit with Arik because of concerns with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Officer Matson was shot in the head on Jan. 6 while responding to a report of a suspicious person in a Waseca backyard. His alleged shooter, Tyler Janovsky, has been charged with first-degree attempted murder.

Since then Matson has been fighting hard on the road to recovery, and recently he was flown out of state to a different facility for more therapy.

Read the family's full post below:

Arik is loving his new facility. The rooms are nice, he's making a few friends, and his therapies are going well! He's walking about 150 feet with the help of what's called an XO skeleton device to assist him and his therapists are proud of him. He's starting to work in a little CrossFit as well so he's been enjoying that too.

He says the meals are great and he's always asking for seconds - the staff are hoping he puts a little weight on! Everyone has been so nice and he's really enjoying being there. Missing Easter with his girls was a little hard for him but he had a full Easter dinner that he said was pretty good!

He's loving the sunshine and even got to go fishing at the pond this weekend. With Covid, we still aren't able to visit which as been tough but we've been keeping in touch as much as possible and his spirits are good!