Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Wade Palmer, who was shot multiple times and critically wounded by a suspect on March 15, has regained consciousness in the University Of Utah Medical Center in Salt Lake City, and his condition has been upgraded to stable.

Spokesman for the Montana Attorney General’s Office, John Barnes shared the news with KGVO on Tuesday afternoon.

“He has been moved from the neurological critical care unit to the neuro acute care unit so that’s a good move,” said Barnes. “At this point, all of his interactions have been nonverbal, but he is showing signs of recognizing people and commands, and he’s also scheduled for reconstructive surgery for his jaw injuries on Thursday, so these are all positive developments and they are signs of great hope.”

Barnes said everyone from the Montana Attorney General to the Highway Patrol to family and friends of Trooper Palmer want to say thanks for the thousands of well wishes, prayers and support that have poured into the Palmer family.

“Everybody is just ecstatic about the progress that they’ve seen,” he said. “Progress is slow and it’s going to be a long journey, but we’re all just really excited about all these developments. I know people want more information about Trooper Palmer’s condition, but we want to respect the family’s privacy, but very recently here with these positive developments, Wade’s wife wanted to get the word out just to show people that their support is having a positive impact in helping things move in the right direction.”

29 year-old Jonathan Bertsch is in jail on $2 million bail after having pleaded not guilty to one charge of deliberate homicide and three counts of attempted deliberate homicide. His next court appearance is May 30.

 

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