Waseca, MN (KROC-AM News) - A Waseca Police Officer is currently listed in critical condition at a Twin Cities hospital with severe gunshot wounds.

Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans says 32-year-old Officer Arik Matson was gravely injured last night when he was shot in the head after he and three other officers responded to a report of a suspicious person with a flashlight in the backyard of a residence in a residential neighborhood about a block of old Highway 14 on the eastern edge of the city. The shooting occurred shortly after the officers encountered the suspect at a neighboring home.

The other officers at the scene then opened fire on the suspect, who was identified as 37-year-old Tyler Janovsky. Evans says the Waseca man was hit by two bullets and was also airlifted to North Memorial Hospital for treatment of non-life threatening wounds.

Waseca Officer Arik Matson
Waseca Officer Arik Matson
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Evans says the BCA is in the earliest stages of the investigation. He did note Janovsky was wanted on an arrest warrant involving drugs, but that was not known by the officers involved in the incident at the time. Evan also indicated Waseca Police officers are not equipped with body cameras, but the city’s squad cars do have dash cams and the videos are being reviewed to determine if the recordings captured any of the shooting.

Officer Matson joined the Waseca Police Department in 2013. He served on the region's drug taskforce SWAT team and as DARE Officer in the Waseca Schools. He is married and has two daughters.

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