The family of Melissa Hortman, the Minnesota lawmaker who was shot and killed along with her husband in what authorities say was a politically motivated attack, remembered the couple as a talented, funny and loving pair as they gathered on Tuesday to prepare for their funeral.
Hortman’s parents, Harry and Linda Haluptzok, spoke to CBS News in their first TV interview since a suspect was arrested for the killings in Brooklyn Park, as well as for the shootings of state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife five miles away in Champlin.
The Haluptzoks, along with their son, Patrick Haluptzok, stopped by the Hortmans’ home on Tuesday to pick up clothes for the couple to be buried in. They sat hand in hand as they spoke about the couple.
“It’s been very hard the last few days,” Patrick Haluptzok said. “In what seems unfair and tragic, the way her last night was spent. We’re just trying to get by.”
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Law enforcement officials say the shooting suspect, 57-year-old Vance Luther Boelter, went to the Hortmans’ home in the early morning of Saturday, June 14, after he allegedly shot the Hoffmans. Brooklyn Park police officers who went to the Hortmans’ home confronted a gunman pretending to be a police officer, who exchanged gunshots with the real officers and fled after killing the state representative and her husband, authorities said.
A search of the suspect’s vehicle found a document that named other lawmakers and officials, police said.
Harry Haluptzok remembered the horror of that Saturday morning as “beyond reality.”
“We knew that they had been shot, but we couldn’t find out where they were. We chased around hospitals and we couldn’t find them,” Linda Haluptzok said.
“We looked at each other and realized the reason they weren’t in the hospital was because they weren’t alive. And that was hard to figure out, and then we got the call,” Harry Haluptzok said. “It was horrible.”
Linda Haluptzok said while she was trying to find out what happened to Gilbert, the Hortmans’ golden retriever that was also killed during the shooting, she told police officers, “Please go out and find that b-word and shoot him dead.”
“And I’m not a woman of violence, but I could not believe it. I’ve come to my senses since then,” she said. “I don’t wish people dead, but I would not, I could not go to the arraignment.”
After a nearly 43-hour-long manhunt, police arrested Boelter near his home in Green Isle, Sibley County. He is charged with two counts of second-degree murder, which prosecutors say will be upgraded to first-degree murder, as well as two counts of attempted murder. Boelter is also facing six federal charges, including stalking and murder.
Patrick Haluptzok told CBS News that the arrest initially felt like some relief.
“But then the police got their man, but we didn’t get my sister back. My mom didn’t get her baby back, and it just hurts,” he said.
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While the pain is “mind-numbing,” Linda Haluptzok said that, in a way, Melissa and Mark Hortman are together forever. As she was going through her daughter’s belongings, she found her wallet, and she said what she found inside perfectly represented who Melissa was.
“It just had her ID and a credit card, but tucked in there with that was a prayer to St. Francis Assisi,” Linda Haluptzok said. “‘Make me a channel of your peace.’ … She meant every word that was in that prayer.”
Harry Haluptzok said his daughter treated everyone with respect, and he remembered his son-in-law as someone who was dynamic and full of life. Mark Hortman was a diver, and he loved building things; he was working on wood and metal projects.
“He was as dynamic as she was. We miss him as much as we miss her,” Harry Haluptzok said.
The couple met while volunteering as mentors in Washington, D.C., the family recalled. Three months later, they were engaged. The Hortmans had two children together, Sophie and Colin. Linda Haluptzok said she and Harry were the ones who called them to let them know about the loss of their parents.
In a written statement released Monday night, Sophie and Colin Hortman said they’re “devastated and heartbroken.” They suggested a few things people could do to honor the memory of their parents, such as plant a tree, pet a dog, bake something and share it with someone, and “stand up for what you believe in, especially if that thing is justice and peace.”
“Those are the things they learned from their mom and dad,” Linda Haluptzok said, adding that the family all cried as they read the statement to them the night before. “It was like our daughter was still alive, and these thoughts that she had over the years and they kind of summarized it and it was so wonderful.”
When asked what changes they’d like to see following the tragedy, Linda Haluptzok said: “The division needs to end.”
“There was a time, not that long ago, when we could all work together … and whatever steps we need to get back there. I don’t know how we do it, but we all have to try. And if it’s one person at a time, we have to make it happen and we can’t let hatred and division rule the actions that are happening now.”
