Man Guilty In Burnsville Dollar Tree Shootings Gets 32 Years In Prison
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A 28-year-old man was sentenced to 32 years in prison. He admitted to killing one man and paralyzing another at a Dollar Tree.
Grant Hendrickson was sentenced in Dakota County Monday morning. Officers say after an argument with an employee at the Dollar Tree in Burnsville he walked back in the store and shot two men. Hendrickson pleaded guilty to charges of murder and attempted murder.
Hendrickson apologized to the family of 69-year-old Donald Hortsch, the beloved grandfather was killed while shopping at the Dollar Tree. Hendrickson also apologized to Dollar Tree employee Synquez Davis who was paralyzed after taking two bullets on that November day.
But first, after walking into court, 28-year-old Grant Hendrickson released his defense team, making a last minute attempt to take back his guilty plea.
But the judge stayed firm.
"I'm at a loss for words. I hope that someday you'll be able to sleep at night and not think about this," Judge Michael Mayer said later in court.
Hendrickson admitted to killing beloved grandfather Donald Hortsch and trying to kill Synquez Davis.
"Honestly I came today only just to see him. I wanted him to look me in my eyes one time," Davis said to WCCO.
Davis also wanted Hendrickson to see him in the wheelchair he now uses.
"Yeah you disabled me for a bit but you took a man and then you disrupted now his whole family, his whole trickle down the tree. I'll have a chance most likely but what about him," Davis said.
He says he's striving to stay hopeful but the apology he heard today didn't really help.
"There's a lot to it that a lot of people don't know but I'm gonna leave that here and leave it in God's hands but I just want to say I'm sorry to the families, both families for the decision I did choose to make. I do want you to know it was not intentional to kill anybody," Hendrickson told the court.
"I mean, yeah, right now I have a lot of hate, a lot of anger right now. It was hard to contain myself, one of the hardest things I've done in my whole life to contain myself in that situation," Davis said after court.
He said he's leaning on his faith.
"I'm putting it in God's hands I guess overall because personally I'm ready to lose it," he said.