A man admitted Tuesday to fatally shooting a bystander in the head and severely wounding another person inside a discount store in Burnsville.
Grant D. Hendrickson, 28, of South St. Paul, pleaded guilty in Dakota County District Court to second-degree murder and second-degree attempted murder in the Nov. 7 death of 69-year-old Donald J. Hortsch, of Rosemount, and the wounding of a 26-year-old man, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.
Hendrickson remains jailed ahead of sentencing on June 19.
"We are pleased to have brought this man to justice for this violent and senseless crime," County Attorney James Backstrom said in a statement.
Hortsch was a customer at the Dollar Tree store in the 14100 block of Aldrich Avenue S. and unknown to the shooter. The second customer, Synquez Davis, also was a bystander.
Hendrickson's girlfriend went to the store shortly after 10 a.m., and she and an employee argued. During that dispute, she learned Hendrickson was a sex offender. Later that morning, she spoke with Hendrickson while he was at class at St. Paul College and told him what she learned.
About noon, a woman in the store heard a scuffle in the back, saw a man leave and then saw him quickly return, firing a gun. She saw the gunman go to the back of the store and open fire again.
According to court records, Hendrickson was convicted in 2008 of first-degree assault with a knife. Two years later, he was convicted of sexual assault of a minor. He also was convicted of violating a domestic abuse restraining order.
