Lost in the manhunt and eventual capture of the alleged assassin Vance Boelter, was the incredible emotional wreckage that he left in his wake.

While the reason for the manhunt was clear as day – he was the suspect in a targeted assassination, and a targeted attempted assassination – there was much more focus on him than on the victims. This was natural, while Boelter was still at large and the surrounding communities were at risk. Now that he has been captured, and facing both state and federal charges for his alleged crimes, the focus of the public should turn to honoring the memories of Melissa and Mark Hortman, and supporting the recovery of Mike and Yvette Hoffman.

The Hoffmans, by some incredible Providence, were spared death – but not because the gunman didn’t try, and he also tried to kill the couple’s adult daughter as well.

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar on Sunday afternoon shared on social media a text message she says she received from Yvette Hoffman.

“Our family is so humbled by the love and outpouring from everyone,” Yvette Hoffman said in the message.

The Hoffmans’ nephew says she jumped on her and John Hoffman’s adult daughter, Hope Hoffman, to shield her from the shots. Hope Hoffman was unharmed.

Yvette Hoffman says her husband was shot nine times and she was shot eight times.

“John is enduring many surgeries right now and is closer every hour to being out of the woods,” she said. “…We are incredibly lucky to be alive. We are gutted and devastated by the loss of Melissa and Mark. We have no words. There is never a place for this kind of political hate.”

There is little doubt that without Yvette Hoffman’s courage, her daughter would be equally as injured or dead. And she was conscious and watching when the alleged murderer was taken into custody.

Yvette Hoffman, shot 8 times by Vance Boelter, the Minnesota assassin, shared this powerful photo from her hospital bed. She shielded her daughter, saving her life. A true hero. #Minnesota #VanceLutherBoelter pic.twitter.com/3lN2IdoYog

— Velour (@Oddland66) June 16, 2025

The Hoffmans face a long road to recovery, and a GoFundMe has been started to provide for that recovery. The Hortman family, on the other hand, suffered some of the most painful losses imaginable. Melissa Hortman, who was the former Speaker of the Minnesota state House, is being remembered fondly by both sides of the political aisle.

Colleagues remembered Ms. Hortman, who was fatally shot early Saturday in what officials described as a political assassination, as a hardworking, problem-solving leader who managed to negotiate her way through impasses, even within her own party, over two decades in the Legislature.

“We have a huge division of values, thoughts and beliefs” said Representative Leigh Finke, a Democrat from St. Paul. “But she held us together.”

… Ms. Hortman said that she took pride in her ability to find common ground with Republicans, even as doing so became harder, she said, as deepening polarization made “people calcified in their party identification.”

Early this year, Ms. Hortman found herself in a central role during a particularly tense period at the Minnesota State Capitol. Voters left the House evenly split last November, and Republican challenges to two seats won by Democrats led to a fight over tactics and control.

After House Democrats boycotted the early weeks of the session, delaying state business, Ms. Hortman negotiated a deal. Under the agreement, Ms. Hortman’s Republican counterpart, Representative Lisa Demuth, could serve as speaker for a two-year period even though the parties had an equal number of seats in the chamber. Committees would be jointly chaired by both sides.

Once the session started, Ms. Demuth and Ms. Hortman found ways to collaborate.

“We worked together extremely well as we fought side-by-side for our shared values,” Ms. Demuth said on Sunday.

But while most of the focus has been on Melissa Hortman, who is assumed to be the target of the assassin, her husband Mark was also murdered – and has received his share of rememberances from local media.

Tributes are pouring in on social media calling Mark an avid pool player on a house league in Coon Rapids. Minnesotans who worked with him call him kind and generous.

An Eden Prairie non-profit, Helping Paws, explained that serving others was also one of his passions through volunteering.

Both Hortmans were involved in the Helping Paws non-profit, which trains service dogs. In an utterly cruel and heartbreaking twist, the Hortman family dog, Gilbert, who had initially come through Helping Paws but did not make it through the program, was also gunned down by the murderer, and had to be euthanized.

Vance Boelter allegedly shot Gilbert, the family’s golden retriever, during the attack at the Brooklyn Park home.

Fellow Minnesota House Rep. Erin Koegel commented on social media platform X that he was put down following the murder.

“Her children had to put down him after learning their parents had been murdered. Gilbert wasn’t going to survive. Melissa loved that dog. She trained him as a service dog. He flunked out of school and she was so happy he failed so he could stay! She needed him in heaven with her,” Koegel said.

The Hortman family helped raise and train dogs to partner with veterans. One of the many reasons we will miss Melissa and Mark. pic.twitter.com/Exs8rU5wiM

— Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) June 15, 2025

Sophie and Colin Hortman have suffered an unthinkable loss (a GoFundMe has also been created for them), but have managed to issue a loving tribute to their parents.

We are devastated and heartbroken at the loss of our parents, Melissa and Mark. They were the bright lights at the center of our lives, and we can’t believe they are gone. Their love for us was boundless. We miss them so much.

We want everyone to know that we are both safe and with loved ones. We are grateful for the outpouring of love and support we have received, and we appreciate your respect for our family’s privacy as we grieve.

Our family would like to thank law enforcement for their swift action that saved others and for the coordination across communities that led to the arrest of the man who murdered our parents. We especially would like to thank the officers who were first on the scene to our parents’ home and their heroic attempts to rescue our mom and dad.

Our parents touched so many lives, and they leave behind an incredible legacy of dedication to their community that will live on in us, their friends, their colleagues and co-workers, and every single person who knew and loved them.

And in their parents’ memory, they asked people to “do something, whether big or small, to make our community just a little better for someone else.” Among the things they listed as options were plant a tree, bake, and pet a dog – a golden retriever, ideally, but any dog.

Statement from Sophie and Colin Hortman, children of Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark:

"The best way to honor our parents' memory is to do something, whether big or small, to make our community just a little better for someone else.” pic.twitter.com/XF4GGbdDOe

— Caroline Cummings (@CaroRCummings) June 17, 2025

I don’t know how you can read that statement and not feel both utterly heartbroken and utterly outraged at the same time.

Boelter’s motives and manhunt are going to be targets of speculation and theory and debate for a long time. But the Hortman and Hoffman families deserve the support of their communities, and of the country. With Boelter in custody, a confession allegedly in hand, and the justice system at work, now is the time to take a deep breath, log off, touch some grass, and follow through on the requests of the Hortman children. I don’t have a golden retriever at hand, so I hope a very needy yellow labrador retriever will do.

Featured image: golden retriever via Mxnponders on Pixabay, cropped, Pixabay license