Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher blasted state capitol security for not quickly sending a mass alert to Minnesota lawmakers the night two of their colleagues and their spouses were shot in their homes in the politically motivated attack this summer, calling the move a "safety failure."

Authorities say a masked gunman posing as a police officer first shot and wounded Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, at their Champlin home around 2 a.m. June 14 before driving to two other lawmakers' homes, but didn't make contact with them. Then, he went to the Hortmans' Brooklyn Park residence where he shot and killed former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark around 90 minutes later.

"There is no excuse for not having or not using a functional mass notification system for our legislators on June 14th, 2025," Fletcher wrote in a statement. "The State Patrol Capitol Security Division has been working on this issue for eight years but failed to implement an effective alert program that could have notified Melissa Hortman and others of the active potential threat against them."

"These notifications could have occurred shortly after the Capitol Security Captain was notified at 2:37 a.m. of the Hoffman attack - an hour before the Hortmans were killed," he continued.

In a statement to WCCO, Col. Christina Bogojevic, chief of the Minnesota State Patrol, said the agency uses Everbridge, a system that can send mass notifications, as a "capitol area-specific notification tool to alert elected officials, staff and employees on the complex about emergencies that directly impact safety in their work area."

But she said participation in the system is voluntary and not all lawmakers are enrolled. State Patrol can't mandate that they share personal information, she added, and they register based on their location within the 140-acre capitol complex to receive specific alerts about where they are.

When asked about Everbridge last week, Bogojevic told reporters State Patrol is looking into whether it can expand the system and "use that for external messaging [to lawmakers] if need be."

"[The Department of Public Safety] has recommended to the Sergeants at Arms and legislative leadership that they review their communication structure as part of their own after-action review. DPS will continue to provide suggestions as to how they can expand participation in the notification system and protocols," Bogojevic said in a statement to WCCO Tuesday. "What happened on June 14 was a horrific tragedy. The State Patrol remains focused on meaningful, systemic improvements and working with all public safety partners who share in that responsibility."

WCCO learned Tuesday that at least three lawmakers received a test this week of the Everbridge system when they weren't on capitol grounds. In the weeks since the tragedy rocked the state, there has been a spotlight on the security of members of the Minnesota Legislature and the capitol building. 

DFL Sen. Heather Gustafson said she is concerned that it took hours to be notified of the full scope of the threat on June 14. Federal prosecutors said the accused assassin had a "hit list" that included the names of Democratic state and federal elected officials on it.

Gustafson was one of them.

"I think a lot of us sort of assumed that there would be some sort of protocol or something to say, 'This is how we get in touch with the legislature when they're outside the building.' And so it was a bit shocking to find out that there actually wasn't any sort of a system there," she said. "I know they're developing that now. That's wonderful. I definitely think that would have helped on the weekend of June 14."

She has requested an investigation by the Office of the Legislative Auditor — an independent state government watchdog — to look into the emergency response and a separate security breach of the Minnesota Senate chamber last month when a naked man got inside after hours.

Separately, the Department of Public Safety and Brooklyn Park Police are seeking an independent after-action report looking into the June 14 shooting response and the State Patrol is hiring a third-party expert to assess capitol building security.

"This isn't so much to point fingers or assign blame. This is really to find out where the gaps were, how, how we can make sure that that is addressed going forward," Gustafson said.

The Department of Public Safety also announced Tuesday that there will be fewer public entrances to the capitol building during normal business hours and more officers will be present at those doors on the South side facing downtown St. Paul.

WCCO first reported last month that the Minnesota House and Senate were tapping into their state budgets to help cover the costs for enhanced home security for lawmakers.

Vance Boelter, 57, faces six federal counts of murder, stalking and firearms violations in connection to the shootings and could face the death penalty. He will be back in court on Thursday and is expected to plead not guilty.