Hospitalized suspect in Arizona trooper’s death out of coma

A man authorities say fired an Arizona state trooper’s gun, killing one trooper and wounding another, has regained consciousness after being placed in a coma.

Arizona Department of Public Safety officials confirmed Friday afternoon that 20-year-old Isaac D. King is awake and alert.

DPS spokesman Bart Graves says King is not expected to be released from the hospital anytime soon.

Agency director Col. Frank Milstead told The Arizona Republic that King had significant injuries when he was hospitalized after Wednesday night’s shooting and was put in a medically induced coma.

Milstead says King, who has a history of mental illness, had initially refused treatment.

He did not detail his injuries. Milstead says doctors treated him anyway for fear “he would not survive.”

Authorities say King fatally shot Trooper Tyler Edenhofer while fighting officers along with a major interstate in suburban Phoenix.