A grand jury has indicted a man on first-degree murder charges in last month's shooting death of a 69-year-old man at the Dollar Tree store in Burnsville.
Grant D. Hendrickson, 27, of Rosemount, is charged with killing Donald Hortsch and attempting to kill a 27-year-old man who was left paralyzed on Nov. 7. Hendrickson also was indicted on charges of attempted murder, assault and being a felon in possession of a pistol.
Hendrickson made a court appearance Thursday. His bail was set at $1.5 million without conditions and $1 million with conditions. His next court appearance is Jan. 30.
The surviving victim "will be a paraplegic" after being shot first in his right leg and then the upper abdomen while on the floor, the charging document says.
Hortsch was a customer at the store and unknown to the shooter. The second customer also was a bystander.
According to witnesses cited in the complaint, Hendrickson's girlfriend went to the store shortly after 10 a.m., where she and an employee argued about lodging complaints that led to Hendrickson's family being evicted from an apartment. 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 had learned about him while at the store.
The employee who had argued with Hendrickson's girlfriend told investigators that a "jittery" Hendrickson threatened him when he first came in the store, saying, "You don't know me, and I will kill you," the complaint read.
