Night Of Prayer Held For Waseca Police Officer Arik Matson
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The Waseca community and neighbors gathered Thursday to send prayers of healing to an officer shot while on duty.
Officer Arik Matson remains in critical condition. Police say Tyler Janovsky, a wanted man, shot him Monday night in quiet Waseca neighborhood.
Hundreds gathered Thursday evening for at Matson's place of worship, Hope Church in Albert Lea, for a "Night of Prayer."
"I encourage you to pray for Arik, specifically for his healing, for his recovery, for him to be ministered to by the Holy Spirit, even while he's in a medically-induced coma right now, let's go, let's begin to pray," Pastor Kaleb Hurley said.
READ MORE: Pastor Says Officer Arik Matson Is Improving After Shooting
And they did pray for more than an hour. Pastor Hurley led the service, saying hope is in the air.
"Arik is currently progressing at a rate the doctors weren't expecting," he said.
Hurley says Matson has movement on his right side, and partial movement on his left. And in a show of amazing grace, the crowd prayed for the man who shot him.
"King Jesus, we ask right now that you would have mercy on our communities, that you would break the bondage of sin, that you would have mercy on people like Tyler and those he's involved with," Hurley said.
Officer Matson's wife, Megan, joined in prayer before spontaneously taking the stage.
"The Lord has pushed me to come up here and my main thing is to thank all of you," Megan Matson said.
She marveled at the outpouring of love as others now serve the man who served them.
"Just thank you so much. Keep Arik in your prayers. He's getting stronger every day. God bless you all," she said.
Matson's SWAT team commander says he brought in mental health counselors for his crew. Many of the people at the event were in law enforcement. Coincidentally, Thursday was Law Enforcement Appreciation Day.
READ MORE: 'He Gave A Darn About The People He Dealt With': Community Honors Officer Arik Matson After Shooting
The suspected gunman is also still in the hospital recovering from gunshot wounds. Janovsky is charged with attempted murder.
A second Waseca officer who fired his gun is on leave. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating what happened.