Minnesota officials consider $429,500 independent probe of law enforcement response to political shootings

MINNEAPOLIS — Nearly five months after a string of politically motivated shootings shocked the state of Minnesota, a plan to have an outside agency review the law enforcement response to the attacks will be considered Monday evening by city councils in Brooklyn Park and Champlin.

An “After-Action Review Joint Powers Agreement” contract has been drafted between the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Minnesota State Patrol, Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, and the police departments of Brooklyn Park, Champlin and New Hope. If approved, those agencies are expected to sign a $429,500 contract soon that will conduct an independent review of their actions in the wake of the shootings of DFL Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, and the killings of DFL Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark.

The cost of the review would largely fall to Hennepin County and the state, which would pay more than $375,000 of the total.

The request, initiated by Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley, would be performed by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, a Virginia-based non-profit that promotes best practices around policing. It would examine how law enforcement responded to the incidents, which started shortly after 2 a.m. on June 14 when Hope Hoffman called 911 to report that her parents had been shot by a mask-wearing man impersonating a police officer.

Vance Boelter, of Green Isle, Minn., was ultimately identified as the suspect in the shootings and arrested 43 hours later near his home. He faces six federal indictments, including stalking and murder, which carries the possibility of the death penalty, along with state charges of first-degree murder and attempted murder.

“The Parties see mutual benefit from conducting the (review) and the resulting report,” the proposed contract reads.

Law enforcement agencies would provide “relevant data and information” including policies, dispatch logs, incident reports and other records. The departments would be allowed to determine what is shareable “in accordance with applicable law.” They would also have to retain “all then-existing/retained emails and Microsoft Teams chats related to the Public Safety incident that were sent between 12:00 a.m. and 11:59 p.m. on June 14, 2025″ for a period of two years or until the review is completed.

The bulk of that data has been walled off from the public, outside of investigative details included in criminal complaints against Boelter.

In the 90 minutes between the shooting of the Hoffmans and killing of the Hortmans, Boelter allegedly drove to the homes of two additional DFL lawmakers and had an interaction with a New Hope police officer outside the home of Sen. Ann Rest.

Brooklyn Park police arrived at the Hortman house in time to witness Mark Hortman be shot and ultimately killed in the entryway of his home. The first officers on the scene pulled him from the house and tried to save his life. Boelter allegedly then shot and killed Melissa Hortman and also shot the family dog, Gilbert, who was later euthanized.

Bruley has said his officers believed they had shot Boelter and he was “held up in the basement” of the house. There was blood in the entryway of the house that officers believed was Boelter’s, but that wasn’t accurate. Boelter escaped out the back door.

The federal indictment against Boelter alleges that dashcam footage from the scene shows that after Mark Hortman was shot Boelter moved into the house when a “second set of gunshots can be heard” and “several flashes appear in the entryway windows.”

In July, the Minnesota Star Tribune reviewed body camera footage which showed law enforcement waited more than an hour to physically enter the home to check on Melissa Hortman or try to apprehend Boelter. During that time, a drone was deployed to fly through the house. A source familiar with the drone footage said Hortman is shown immobile on the landing at the top of the stairs. At 4:42 a.m., she was taken out of the house and brought to an ambulance.

Last week, the Brooklyn Park Police Department announced it had completed an internal review of the actions of the first two officers on the scene and cleared them of any wrongdoing for firing on Boelter and also determined they followed department policy. It also said the officers, who did a welfare check on Melissa Hortman, were not aware she was a potential victim inside the home.

The New Hope officer arrived outside Rest’s home at 2:36 a.m., approximately 30 minutes after Hope Hoffman’s 911 call. The officer believed Boelter was a police officer who was checking on Rest and asked Boelter to roll down his window. He was a “bald, white male, staring straight ahead,” according to court records. Investigators said Boelter was likely wearing a silicone face mask. Boelter didn’t respond to the New Hope officer, who left to check on Rest.

It remains unclear how the officer was dispatched to Rest’s home. The New Hope Police Department has declined several requests to share more information about the interaction. They provided the Star Tribune with an incident report that doesn’t mention the encounter with Boelter.

Boelter allegedly wrote a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel before being apprehended which claimed, “Cops were pulling up right next to me in their vehicles and I had an AK pistol aimed right at her head and I could have left a pile of cops dead.”

How information was shared amongst law enforcement agencies and with state lawmakers and the public has remained under question since the shootings.

Last month, the Star Tribune and other media outlets won a legal dispute with the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office over the release of the unredacted 911 call from Hope Hoffman. Two state agencies agreed that the transcript had to be released under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act.

That transcript showed that within minutes of her parents being shot, Hope Hoffman relayed to law enforcement that the shooter was impersonating a police officer, wearing a mask and had intentionally targeted a state lawmaker before fleeing.

The search for Boelter was the largest manhunt in state history.

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