Minn. lawmaker shootings: Independent investigation to review law enforcement response

State and local law enforcement agencies in Minnesota are moving forward with an independent review of their response to the targeted shootings of two DFL state lawmakers at their homes in June.

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety said Tuesday that an “after-action review” by the International Association of Chiefs of Police will focus on a 43-hour period, beginning with the first 911 call just after 2:30 a.m. June 14 and ending with Vance Boelter’s arrest near his home in rural Sibley County.

Boelter, 58, faces federal and state prosecution for allegedly killing Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, at their Brooklyn Park home, and wounding state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, at their home in Champlin about an hour and a half earlier.

The review will assess law enforcement’s mobilization, coordination and communication during the manhunt, which was the largest in state history.

“I want to recognize the exceptional work of DPS staff and our law enforcement partners,” Commissioner Bob Jacobson said in a news release announcing the review. “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.”

Agencies that requested the review include the Brooklyn Park, Champlin and New Hope police departments, Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office and the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and State Patrol.

The study and report will cost $429,500, with Public Safety contributing $210,000 and the rest shared among the participating agencies.

Officials emphasized the review is not only intended to reflect on Minnesota’s response, coordination and communication but also to provide insights that could benefit law enforcement agencies nationwide.

Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher has been asking for an after-action review since July.

“I welcome the review. I think it’ll be beneficial,” Fletcher said Tuesday. “And I’m a little surprised by the cost, but maybe that means it’ll be exceptionally thorough. My primary concerns rest with those early, first five hours in terms of how information was communicated to legislators.”

Police response

State and federal prosecutors say Boelter was driving a fake squad car, wearing tactical gear and announced himself as an officer when he went to the Hoffmans’ Champlin home around 2 a.m. June 14.

Boelter went to two more DFL legislators’ homes, though he didn’t encounter them, before he arrived at the Hortman home about 3:30 a.m., according to the federal charges.

Brooklyn Park officers went to check on the Hortman home after finding out about the Champlin shootings, encountered Boelter and exchanged gunfire with him before he escaped, prosecutors say.

Boelter allegedly had a list of addresses for Democratic elected officials and abortion providers in his vehicle, and had visited the homes of Sen. Ann Rest, New Hope, and Rep. Kristin Bahner, Maple Grove. Bahner was not home at the time, and Boelter allegedly left Rest’s street after a police officer arrived.

Local police became aware of the shootings just after 2 a.m., when Hoffman’s daughter called 911, and started responding to north Hennepin County legislators’ homes. A widespread alert did not happen until after 3:30 a.m., when officers encountered the shooter at the Hortmans’ home.

Public Safety has said teletype notifications went out to metro-area law enforcement agencies: one from the Brooklyn Park Police Department at 4:25 a.m. and another from the State Patrol at 4:40 a.m.

The notifications mentioned that the suspected shooter appeared to be impersonating a police officer and urged agencies to monitor elected officials’ residences.

Fletcher’s concerns

Three weeks after the shooting, Fletcher pressed public safety officials for answers on how they handled notifying legislators and law enforcement agencies of the ongoing threat.

In a July 7 letter to security officials at the Minnesota Capitol, Fletcher raised concerns about information sharing between law enforcement and state leaders. Fletcher said the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office did not learn of the shootings, details about the suspect or the fact that the suspect had been targeting lawmakers until hours after the information had become available to other officials and law enforcement agencies.

Fletcher, in a July 28 letter to Jacobson, continued to push DPS for answers on the notification processes for legislators and law enforcement in an emergency. He said he learned during a July 9 law enforcement briefing with Jacobson, “several chiefs and sheriffs raised the issue of delayed notification on June 14th.”

Fletcher said he was aware that State Patrol Capitol Security Division Capt. Eric Roeske was notified at 2:37 a.m. of the shootings of the Hoffmans.

In addition to the 4:40 a.m. teletype, Fletcher said a State Patrol captain called one of his undersheriffs at 6:42 a.m. Fletcher said he talked at 7 a.m. to the superintendent of the BCA, who told him some names of legislators on Boelter’s “list,” and “we then deployed deputies to all the elected officials in suburban Ramsey County.”

Fletcher said there was some “great police work done once everyone was communicating and working together. But the initial five hours in terms of communication could have been improved in my estimation. And I’m confident that the after-action report will describe that.”

Fletcher said he has yet to get an answer as to his question of who exactly should be notifying lawmakers and state law enforcement of potential threats.

“And it appears that no one wants to take responsibility for that duty. And that’s disappointing,” he said. “That’s disappointing, and dangerous.”

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