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The fatal shooting of Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, also resulted in the death of the couple’s dog.
Gilbert, a golden retriever, “wasn’t going to survive” his injuries, and the couple’s adult children made the decision to euthanize him, state Rep. Erin Koegel (D) said Sunday on X.
“Melissa loved that dog,” Koegel wrote. “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.”
Gilbert ended up not being a fit for the service dog life because he was “just too happy-go-lucky,” Alyssa Golob, executive director of service dog organization Helping Paws MN, told the Minnesota Star Tribune.
The nonprofit confirmed the dog’s death on Tuesday on social media.
It also announced it would be establishing a fund, “in honor of the Hortman family and Gilbert,” that will support the placement of service dogs with veterans and first responders.
Prior to Gilbert, the Hortman family had trained Minnie, a service dog that was placed with a veteran, according to an earlier post by Helping Paws.
Melissa and Mark Hortman were fatally shot in their home early Saturday morning by a man authorities said was impersonating a police officer. The same man also went to the home of Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman (D) and his wife, Yvette, where he shot and seriously wounded them.
Senate Television via AP
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Police said the suspect in the killings, Vance Boelter, had a list of “dozens and dozens” of Democratic lawmakers, as well as abortion providers in the state.
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