A servicemember of the National Guard is showing improvement after he was gravely wounded in an targeted attack last month in Washington DC.
The family of the 24-year-old soldier, twenty-four, report "his head wound is gradually improving and that he's beginning to 'look more like himself,'" said the state's chief executive Patrick Morrisey.
The family anticipates the military non-commissioned officer to be in intensive treatment for the coming fortnight, and they feel hopeful about his progress, said the governor.
The serviceman was one of a pair of West Virginia National Guard members injured by gunfire when a gunman began shooting not far from the White House on 26 November. His colleague, 20-year-old his counterpart, succumbed to her wounds.
"Our request remains for all West Virginians and the nation's citizens for their prayers!" the governor said.
Morrisey attended a candlelight gathering on Friday evening for the injured soldier at a local secondary school in Inwood, West Virginia, where the guardsman was once a pupil.
A pastor at the event shared a message from the guardsman's mother and father, his family.
"It is clear to us that there is a long road to go," they wrote, as reported by local news outlet Metro News.
"But our faith keeps us optimistic. We remain thankful for the prayers and the encouragement from people all over the world."
Earlier in the week, the state official said the serviceman had responded to a nurse with a positive gesture and was able to move his toes.
Police have charged the suspected shooter, an Afghan national named Rahmanullah Lakanwal, with first-degree murder and attempted murder.
Prior to his arrival to the US in two years ago, he was once a member of a special forces unit in a CIA-backed unit that worked with American troops in Afghanistan.
The injured airman was one of two thousand militia personnel whom the former president dispatched to the Washington DC in August as part of his policy initiative in urban centers.
Following the incident, the former president said he desired an additional five hundred National Guard troops deployed to the nation's capital.
The Trump administration has also referenced the attack as a reason for additional restrictive policies.
They have cancelled all citizenship ceremonies for immigrants from a list of nations that were part of a entry restriction implemented over the summer, including Afghanistan.