The remoteness of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness temporarily shielded State Rep. Roger Skraba from the tragic events that occurred last weekend near the Twin Cities.
While the state and nation were mesmerized by the shooting of four people, including two state lawmakers, as well as the massive manhunt that ensued Saturday and Sunday, Skraba was deep in the wilderness without cell phone service or contact with the outside world.
“I didn’t know anything had happened until 4 o’clock in the afternoon on Tuesday,” Skraba said late Wednesday evening.
By then, suspected assassin Vance Boelter had already been in custody for nearly two days, and the state was still reeling and in shock over the incidents that took the lives of former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, and left State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette still recovering from multiple gunshot wounds.
“I’m still digesting it all, and I’m in shock, it’s all so hard to believe,” said Skraba. “I didn’t know anything had happened. I lost cell service and I got to the Beaty portage and I read down the river about what had happened, and I had so many messages and they all said the same time so I didn’t know if it happened that day or before. There were a lot of messages asking if I was OK.”
Skraba was safe from harm in the hours after the late-night shooting spree allegedly conducted by the 57-year-old Boelter, who authorities say donned a mask and impersonated a police officer when going to the homes of Hoffman, and later Hortman.
Boelter, who was captured late Sunday near his property in Green Isle, shot the Hoffman’s more than 15 times at their home in Champlin and about 90 minutes later was at the home of Hortman in Brooklyn Park.
There, Boelter is said to have fatally wounded both Hortman and her husband and engaged in gunfire with responding police, escaping out the back door.
Boelter was charged with two counts of second-degree murder as well as attempted murder, with state authorities indicating they would seek first-degree murder charges. The assailant was also charged with federal crimes and is currently in federal custody.
In the hours after the shooting and while Boelter remained at large, law enforcement officers were dispatched to protect legislators around the state, including in Ely to Skraba’s home.
Ely police soon discovered Skraba was in the wilderness, working as a fishing guide.
Skraba said he was appreciative of the efforts of Ely police.
“Chad left me a message that I didn’t get until Tuesday,” said Skraba. “He told me they understood I was in the Boundary Waters but not to hesitate to call, and that they didn’t believe I was on this guy’s list, but they wanted to be cautious and hoped the fishing was good.”
Skraba missed meetings of his legislative caucus while in the woods and this week he said “I’m just having a hard time comprehending why someone would do (what Boelter is alleged to have done).”
“This guy was calculated,” said Skraba. “Crazy people don’t calculate like this. This guy was a predator. I think he knew he was going to get caught. I think now if this guy is playing the system, the system should be as cruel and unusual to him as possible. To turn the cop car lights on and pound on the door, anybody would open that door. That’s beyond calculated. He’s an evil individual.”
Skraba said he will remember Hortman fondly, even though they were on opposing sides of the political aisle.
“She was a gracious leader, a gracious person,” said Skraba. “Her policy and my policy were not the same, but she was a fantastic leader.”
Skraba noted that Hortman at times joked and called Skraba “my little Republican Democrat,” and that she appreciated his attendance at a Muslim religious event at St. Paul.
“Out of 101 Republicans in the legislature, I was the only one there,” said Skraba. “I was curious. That’s what it was. But she came up to me and said ‘Hey Skraba, I just want you to know that this doesn’t go unnoticed.’” Ely Mayor Heidi Omerza also often crossed paths with Hortman in St. Paul.
“Representative Hortman was a force to reckon with,” said Omerza. “She was always polite, would always say hi to me. It’s sad when you’re an elected official and you have to think twice about if I am safe.”
Omerza added “being on the Ely council and having very different opinions, at the end of the day we can all get along and knowing for the most part that I am safe. Sometimes I take that for granted and maybe I shouldn’t. It makes me even more grateful for our police force. When I see about things that have happened, it makes me proud to be an American, proud to be an elected official, and there are other things that make me not so proud.”
At Omerza’s request, the city council held a moment of silence Tuesday in memory of the Hortmans as well as their golden retriever, who also perished as a result of the incident.
