Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman has been released from the hospital after being shot nine times by the same suspect who allegedly killed another lawmaker and her husband.
Hoffman’s family released a statement to multiple media outlets Monday night alongside a photo of a smiling Hoffman giving a thumbs-up while standing with a suitcase, ready to leave the hospital.
“John has been moved to a rehab facility, but still has a long road to recovery ahead,” part of the statement read per The Associated Press.
The shooting incident happened on June 14 when Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were awakened around 2 a.m. by a man pounding on the door of their home in Champlin. The suspect, Vance Boelter, told the couple he was a police officer before they opened the door and realized he was wearing a mask.
Surveillance footage showed he knocked on the door and shouted, “This is the police, open the door.” When the couple opened the door, Boelter shined a flashlight in their faces and said a shooting had been reported before asking if they had any weapons.
When he lowered his flashlight, they “realized he was not a police officer,” according to acting U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson.
“They shouted out, ‘You’re not a cop. You’re not a police officer,’ ” Thompson said. Boelter then “forced himself into their home” while saying, “This is a robbery.”
Thompson said when Hoffman “attempted to push Boelter out and stop him from entering their home, Boelter shot him repeatedly.”
Yvette Hoffman was hit eight times before she could shut the door. She was released from the hospital about a week after the shootings and has continued her recovery. Their adult daughter, Hope, was there but was not injured and called 911.
Boelter is accused of also shooting and killing former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in nearby Brooklyn Park.
“When they (police) arrived at the scene, they saw Boelter’s black SUV parked in the driveway with the emergency lights flashing and they saw Boelter standing in front of the house several feet from the door. When Boelter saw the officers get out of the car, he drew his weapon and began firing,” Thompson said. “He rushed into the house through the front door, firing into it. He repeatedly fired into the house. And when he entered, he murdered Representative Hortman and her husband Mark.”
The family’s rescue dog, Gilbert, was also shot and had to be euthanized.
Boelter surrendered near his home the night of June 15 after what authorities have called the largest search in Minnesota history. He remains jailed without bail and faces six federal charges and four state charges of murder and attempted murder.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi will have to decide whether or not to seek the federal death penalty since Minnesota abolished it in 1911.
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