The Waseca police officer shot last week while responding to a call of a suspicious person is making improvements but still has a long road of recovery ahead of him, according to an update on his condition Tuesday.

Kaleb Hurley, pastor of Hope Church in Albert Lea, said Officer Arik Matson remains in stable, yet still critical, condition at North Memorial Health Hospital in Robbinsdale. Matson is a parishioner at the church who lives in Freeborn with his wife and two daughters.

Hurley said while family and friends have seen some exciting changes happening in Matson’s recovery, there are still many unknowns. He said Matson has been able to squeeze fingers or give a thumbs up as a reply to questions. At times he is still getting help with his breathing, but at other times he is able to breathe on his own.

Doctors have stabilized treatment so Matson’s body can catch up with the changes happening in his body, Hurley said. As Matson begins to adjust and some of the swelling goes down, doctors are getting more answers and are able to do more testing.

“Make no mistake, Arik is still in the woods, and Arik still has a really long road ahead of him,” Hurley said.

The pastor said the bullet went in by Matson’s hairline, passed through the right side of his head and went out the back right side.

“Clearly Arik needs prayer,” Hurley said. “It’s a miracle that he is still where he’s at. It’s a miracle that he is alive at this point, but we want to continue to ask God, that God will preserve his life — that Arik will be able to have a life that will be full and filled with relationships with his wife and his children and with God and with his community.”

Numerous efforts remain underway to help raise money for the Matson family, including the GoFundMe account and an account at Farmers State Bank set up to collect funds. As of Wednesday morning, the GoFundMe account had raised almost $169,000.