Paralysis probable for trooper who was shot, doctor says

BOISE – A trooper will likely be paralyzed from the chest down as a result of wounds suffered in a Twin Falls shooting last week, one of his doctors said Thursday.

Idaho State Trooper Chris Glenn’s spinal damage is so extensive that he will probably never recover all the functions he had before the shooting, Trooper Rick Ohnsman said, quoting Dr. Gannon Randolph’s remarks at an earlier news conference. Randolph is treating Glenn at St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, where he was airlifted after the Dec. 20 shooting.

Glenn, 34, was shot in the neck while attempting to apprehend an armed robbery suspect. He suffered damage to his trachea, esophagus and spine.

He’s looking forward to starting rehabilitation, said a statement from his brother, David Glenn, who also appeared at the news conference.

“He faces a long, arduous road to recovery and rehabilitation before he’ll be able to go home,” the statement said.

“Those who are acquainted with Chris will know he’s already started to attack this process with everything he has and will fight to beat the odds.”

Adam Mower, arrested in the shooting, has pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated battery of a police officer, eluding arrest and robbery in 5th District Court in Twin Falls.

Mower, 24, was discharged Friday from St. Alphonsus, where he was being treated for injuries sustained in a traffic accident after the shooting. He is being held at Twin Falls County Jail on a $1 million bond.

Twin Falls police say Mower is also a suspect in an armed robbery at a gas station earlier Dec. 20.

Before he was shot, Glenn had been working to move his wife and son from Twin Falls, where they had lived for the past four years, back to his hometown of Kimberly.

A group of builders has volunteered to finish building his house so that he can come home to Kimberly when he leaves the hospital.