NEWPORT BEACH : Wounded Officer’s Condition Improves

The condition of a Newport Beach police officer who was shot in the head last month improved Monday, rebounding slightly from a downturn last weekend that caused hospital officials to list his condition as “extremely critical.”

Robert J. Henry, 30, remained in critical condition Monday, but officials at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian said his vital signs had stabilized.

“He’s still needs a ventilator to breathe, but he is medically doing better,” said Debra Legan, manager of marketing and communications for Hoag.

Throughout Henry’s ordeal, as his condition worsens or improves, relatives and police officers have remained at his side, she said.

Henry, a five-year member of the force, has been in a coma since he was shot. He had shown signs of improvement and had been moved from the intensive-care unit to a regular hospital room. Had his condition remained stable, doctors were planning to transfer him to a rehabilitation hospital, officials have said.

But Friday, Henry developed a blood clot in a lung. He was then connected to a ventilator to help him breathe and was given medicine to help control his blood pressure--functions he previously had been able to maintain naturally.

Henry was shot March 12 in an incident that police still have not unraveled. When officers responded to reports of shots being fired, they found Henry under the body of Carlos Caicedo, 24. Two guns were found at the scene--both of which had been fired. Police have released few details about what might have caused the shootings.

Henry and his wife, Patty, are parents of three children, including a month-old daughter.

The Newport Beach police Employees Assn. has set up a fund for Henry and his family, and officers are wearing bracelets in his honor.