Early Saturday morning, when a man dressed like a police officer knocked at the home of a Minnesota state legislator, marked the start of nearly 40 hours of violence and fear that swept through towns in an arc around Minneapolis.

On Monday night, one night after the end of the largest manhunt in our Minnesota history, Brooklyn Park and Champlin community members had an opportunity to let their guards down.

State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband were shot and killed and State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette were shot and wounded in “targeted shootings” in Champlin and Brooklyn Park, two neighboring suburban cities 10 to 20 miles outside Minneapolis.