Third-party probe to evaluate law enforcement's Minnesota lawmaker shooting response
Several Minnesota law enforcement agencies say a third party will evaluate their efforts and response of the June lawmaker shootings that killed former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and sparked a massive statewide manhunt.
Brooklyn Park, Champlin, New Hope police, as well as the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office, Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the Minnesota State Patrol will participate in an after-action review by the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
Hortman and her husband were shot and killed in their Brooklyn Park home on June 14 after state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife were shot and wounded in their Champlin home 90 minutes earlier. The accused assassin visited the homes of two other state lawmakers that night and encountered a New Hope police officer in between the attacks, before driving off, according to federal charges.
The report will focus on the 43-hour period that started with a 911 call in the early hours of June 14 by the Hoffmans' daughter, alerting police that her parents had been shot by a person impersonating a police officer, and ended with Vance Boelter's arrest near his Green Isle home.
Vance Boelter, 58, faces federal charges for the shootings, including two counts of murder. According to prosecutors, he had a hit list of lawmakers and other public officials, including staffers at Planned Parenthood. He pleaded not guilty in August.
Brooklyn Park police found Boelter at the Hortman home and shot at him, though he escaped and evaded arrest for another 40 hours in what law enforcement officials called the largest manhunt in state history.
Last week, Brooklyn Park police said the officers who fired their weapons at the Hortman home did so in accordance with department policy.
The after-action review is expected to take six months and will cost $429,500, with the state's department of public safety and Hennepin County contributing the most funds. The cities of Brooklyn Park, Champlin and New Hope will pay between $8,500 and $27,488 towards the contract, which is expected to be approved in the coming weeks.
The goal is to strengthen future law enforcement responses.
"This after-action review not only represents Minnesota's commitment to learning and improving but also to honoring the lives that were lost and forever changed because of one person's horrific actions," said Minnesota Department of Public Safety Commissioner Bob Jacobson. "By examining what worked well and where we can improve, we can strengthen our ability to respond to future emergencies and also share lessons that can help law enforcement nationwide keep their communities safe."
The findings of the report will be made public once it is finished.
Separately, there is a third-party review of state capitol security underway after a naked man this summer broke into the Minnesota Senate chamber after hours.