Man Pleads Guilty To Murder In Burnsville Dollar Tree Shootings
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A 28-year-old South St. Paul man indicted for murder in a shooting at a Dollar Tree store in Burnsville last November has pleaded guilty to charges.
Grant David Hendrickson pled guilty on Tuesday to second-degree murder with intent to kill and attempted second-degree murder in the shooting death of 69-year-old Donald Joseph Hortsch or Rosemount and attempted murder of a 27-year-old man.
The incident happened just after noon on Nov. 7, 2016. Authorities say Hendrickson walked into the Dollar Tree Store and shot two men. He was caught nearby minutes later, with the help of witnesses.
Authorities say witnesses inside the store saw Hendrickson shoot the two men in the store, then leave.
Court documents state two brothers working at the store encountered Hendrickson's girlfriend that day. The brothers and their parents had been evicted from an apartment in Burnsville, and believed she was responsible after calling police on several noise complaints.
A criminal complaint states the woman had an altercation with one of the brothers at the store, and he referred to Hendrickson as a sex offender. She was not aware of that, became angry and talked with Hendrickson after he got done with class at St. Paul College that morning.
Later that day, Hendrickson went to the store to talk with one of the brothers, and an argument started outside the store. Hendrickson told the man, "You don't know me and I will kill you." Hendrickson pushed the man, who punched him in the face three times.
Hendrickson was escorted away before he re-entered the store and started shooting. He then called his girlfriend and told her he had shot two people. He said he was being jumped by five people and had no other choice.
The man killed in the shooting was shopping and not the intended target. He was hit by a stray bullet that went through an aisle shelf. The other victim, a 27-year-old man, was shot twice and paralyzed from the waist down.
Hendrickson will be sentenced in Dakota County Court on June 19.
