Sports

MSHSL allows Waseca team to wear patch honoring officer

Via Mankato Free Press

The Minnesota State High School League has approved a patch that will be worn on Waseca High School hockey sweaters honoring police officer Arik Matson.

The patch will feature officer Matson’s badge number, 222, according to a post on the MSHSL Facebook page.

Earlier the MSHSL denied the boys hockey team permission to wear honorary sweaters for officer Matson as they did not meet MSHSL guidelines.

Officer Arik Matson
Officer Arik Matson
Courtesy of Waseca Police Department

A family post on Matson’s CaringBridge web page said he had reconstructive surgery on Monday at North Memorial Health Hospital that left him dealing with some pain and swelling, but otherwise went well.

The post said Matson was positioned upright during physical therapy and twice threw a ball to his brother.

The 32-year-old Waseca officer was shot in the head Jan. 6 when responding with other officers to a call about a suspicious person roaming through backyards.

The suspect, Tyler Janovsky, 37, shot Matson and also fired at two other officers and was shot by police, according to law enforcement officials. Janovsky has been released from the hospital and is at Oak Park Heights prison on a burglary conviction out of Otter Tail County.

Janovsky is scheduled for a bail hearing in Waseca on Tuesday. A judge Wednesday signed an order authorizing the transfer to Waseca for the hearing.

A criminal complaint does not include a motive for the shooting, but a search warrant affidavit filed a week after the confrontation noted that his mother told investigators that in recent weeks he “had discussed his desire and intent to commit ‘suicide by cop.’”