Hoffman family details ‘that horrific night’ in statement on shooting

Sen. John Hoffman, his wife, Yvette, and their daughter, Hope, were startled awake by a loud knocking early last Saturday, they said in their first public statement detailing the horrific scene that played out at their front door.

At the front door of the Hoffmans’ Champlin home was a man identifying himself as a police officer. All three Hoffmans were in the entryway as they opened the door, their statement said:

“John initially lunged at the gunman as the weapon was pointed directly at him, getting struck nine times. As John fell, Yvette reached out to push the man and shut the door, succeeding before she was also hit eight times by gunfire. Hope then rushed to shut the door and secured the lock; she got to the phone and shared with the 911 operator that Senator John Hoffman had been shot in his home."

Hope Hoffman’s “brave actions and quick thinking triggered the notice to public safety officials that a politically-motivated act was potentially underway,” the statement read.

The statement from the Hoffman family said that John Hoffman is now in critical but stable condition and that Yvette Hoffman is in stable condition. The man allegedly at the door, Vance Boelter, is now charged federally with attempted murder and with the slaying of Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, whose home Boelter allegedly went to later.

In their statement, the Hoffmans said they haven’t been able to release much information until now because they were receiving medical care. But they said they wanted to offer “more clarity of what happened” in the early morning hours of June 14.

The couple had returned home Friday evening with Hope, after attending the DFL Humphrey-Mondale Dinner. The Hortmans were at the same dinner.

The Hoffmans said they were “heartbroken” over the Brooklyn Park murders of the Hortmans. They said Hope had gone to school with the Hortmans’ daughter, Sophie.

“We know that they — along with Colin Hortman — will have each other’s support as we all work through the devastating consequences of that horrific night,” the Hoffmans said.

The family said they have been “uplifted by the prayers and support from so many” across the state and nation.

“Choosing to work in the public sector, even in as limited a way as John’s career as a senator, has always meant sacrificing a level of privacy,” the statement said. “But now we are grappling with the reality that we live in a world where public service carries such risks as being targeted because someone disagrees with you or doesn’t like what you stand for.

“As a society, as a nation, as a community, we must work together to return to a level of civility that allows us all to live peacefully.”

Read the full statement: