Minn. Police Officers who Responded to State Lawmaker's Killing Cleared in Agency Probe
What to know
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An internal review cleared Brooklyn Park Police Officers Zachary Baumtrog and Jay Bloyer of wrongdoing after they waited over an hour before entering the home of slain Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman during a June 14 shooting.
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The review found their actions and Baumtrog’s use of force were consistent with department policy, though a third-party investigation will examine broader response and communication issues.
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The suspect allegedly disguised himself as a police officer and targeted multiple lawmakers, killing Hortman and her husband, as well as injuring Sen. John Hoffman and his wife.
An internal investigation has cleared two Brooklyn Park police officers who waited more than an hour before entering the home of a Minnesota politician who’d been gunned down inside — a delay that raised questions over law enforcement response to the brutal slaying.
The preliminary review, which is common after incidents involving use of deadly force, found officers Zachary Baumtrog, who “discharged his duty handgun,” and Jay Bloyer followed policy after arriving at DFL Rep. Melissa Hortman’s home early in the morning of June 14, according to a news release.
However, the Brooklyn Park Police Department is still requesting a broader third-party review of the response and communications surrounding the incident, said department Inspector Matt Rabe.
Baumtrog and Bloyer “proactively conducted a check” at the Hortman residence around 3:30 a.m. June 14, after responding to the shooting at the Champlin home of DFL state Sen. John Hoffman, according to police.
The officers attempted to rescue Mark Hortman, who was bleeding in the doorway, according to the review conducted by the Brooklyn Park Police Department. According to the review, released Tuesday, neither officer “was aware of any other victims in the home at the time.”
“The department’s preliminary review determined that Officer Baumtrog’s use of deadly force, along with the actions of both officers, were consistent with Brooklyn Park Police Department policy and training,” the review concluded.
According to initial reports, the officers witnessed the suspect shoot Mark Hortman and enter the house.
“You had the officers shooting at the suspect, the suspect shoots Mark right in the entryway, he goes in the house and he starts shooting in the house,“ Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley said in June. ”It’s really, really chaotic. As they called ‘shots fired,’ lots and lots of resources came. They converged on the house."
After the firefight, officers didn’t go inside the house until 4:38 a.m., according to timestamps on bodycam footage. They waited for a drone to be deployed to see if Boelter was inside and if Melissa Hortman was still alive.
Bruley has said his officers believed they shot the suspect and that he was “holed up” in the basement.
The man charged with killing the Hortmans is Vance Boelter, a 57-year-old who state and federal criminal charging documents say disguised himself as a police officer and went on a shooting spree of DFL lawmakers whose names he carried on a list. Around 2 a.m., before going to the Hortmans’, Boelter reportedly traveled to Hoffman’s home and shot the senator and his wife, Yvette, multiple times, leaving the couple badly injured, charges say.
The assassination of the Hortmans shocked the nation, drawing condemnations of heightened political violence across the ideological spectrum. It also brought criticisms over spotty police communication among multiple agencies, and the officers’ hour-long wait before entering the Hortman home.
It’s unclear who will conduct the third-party investigation. Legislative Auditor Judy Randall told the Star Tribune earlier this year that her office has received requests to do so.
Jeff Day and Ryan Faircloth of the Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this story.
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