76 years in prison for man who shot five officers serving search warrant

A Benton County judge on Friday sentenced a 66-year-old Princeton man to more than 76 years in prison for shooting five officers who came to his home to serve a search warrant two years ago.

Karl Thomas Holmberg was charged with more than a dozen felonies, including seven counts of first-degree attempted murder of a peace officer, after the shootout at his home.

In August, a jury found Holmberg guilty of 14 counts related to the shooting and one count of a controlled substance offense resulting from the officers’ search. Additionally, Holmberg entered a guilty plea for unlawful possession of a firearm.

On Friday, Judge Robert Raupp sentenced Holmberg to 76.5 years in prison with credit for 751 days served.

Sherburne County Sheriff Joel Brott said Friday he was grateful for the long sentence that ensures Holmberg “won’t be able to perpetuate this type of reckless violence again.”

The three counts with the highest severity in the sentencing guidelines — felony counts for first-degree assault on a peace officer with a dangerous weapon — each earned Holmberg 306 months. Those three counts will be served consecutively for a total of 918 months.

The remaining counts will be served at the same time. Prosecutors from the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office asked the court for the three consecutive 306-month terms, citing the severity of the crime.

According to the criminal complaint, officers from Sherburne and Benton counties served a narcotics warrant just after 7 a.m. Oct. 12, 2023, at Holmberg’s home in the 200 block of 190th Avenue in Princeton.

Law enforcement yelled “Police, search warrant!” multiple times while knocking on the door. Within seconds of the officers entering the house, Holmberg fired off several rounds, the complaint states.

Holmberg’s wife, Dorine, told police her husband began shooting “blindly through the closed bedroom door” with a military-style rifle and said it was “his day to die,” the complaint states. Karl Holmberg was arrested after several hours of negotiations.

Officers found guns and methamphetamine in the house. The narcotics search warrant was issued following a monthslong investigation in which officers allegedly bought methamphetamine from one of the Holmbergs at the house on multiple occasions.

One officer who was hit in the right arm required five surgeries within two months of the shooting; another was shot in the chest and hip, causing a fractured pelvis and bruising to his lung, the complaint states.

A memorandum submitted to the court by Holmberg’s attorneys before sentencing stated Holmberg didn’t know how many officers were outside his door and later expressed “relief that no one was killed.”

“In the moments before the banging on the front door began, Karl Holmberg was in his bedroom with his wife. He had no intention of harming anyone that day,” the memorandum states. “It was just another morning — until it wasn’t."