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SALT LAKE CITY — There is new hope for a Montana Highway Patrol Trooper who was shot three times and flown to the University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake.
Trooper Wade Palmer woke up for the first time since he arrived nearly three weeks ago.
"It’s like, oh my gosh, it’s a miracle! I am in shock," said UHP Sgt. David Moreno to KSL. "Now to see this — like wow, I believe in miracles."
Palmer was shot in the neck, the face and the head during the midnight hours of March 14 in Missoula. He was shot after he located a suspect involved in an earlier shooting that injured two people and killed another.
Palmer was flown to the University of Utah Hospital in extremely critical condition.
Moreno was there when Palmer arrived and saw him being rushed into the emergency room for surgery. Moreno said it was like something out of the movies and he didn’t think Palmer was going to make it.
“My first reaction was overwhelming sadness. All I could think about is, ‘that could have been me,’” said Moreno. “I thought, ‘this guy is going to die.’ I was so sad, so sad. I couldn’t contain my tears.”
Moreno then stood watch over Palmer’s room for the next two days.
Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Mike Burman, who is in town, has known and worked with Palmer for nearly five years. He, too, thought he may lose his friend.
A @MTHwyPatrol trooper wakes up for the first time after getting shot three times. "It's like oh my gosh it's a miracle I am in shock," we have reaction on @KSL5TV at 5 & 6 pic.twitter.com/jRBKitNGkx
— Dan Rascon (@TVDanRascon) April 3, 2019
“We were scared. We were scared he wouldn’t be around us,” Burman told KSL.
But now, there is new hope.
"I can say that he’s awake and he’s working on moving forward. We are able to talk to him. He’s not very responsive, we can’t have a conversation or anything like that, he’s not able to give indications to us, but I know Wade is there. That’s what gives me hope for the future," Burman said
Palmer is scheduled to undergo surgery on Thursday for his jaw injuries. There is no word on how much longer he will be at the University Hospital, but the road to recovery is expected to be a very long one.
