Benton County Judge Sets Conditional Bail at $3 Million for Suspect in Shooting of Five Police Officers

(KNSI) — A Benton County judge has set conditional bail for the suspect accused of shooting five cops at $3 million.

Karl Holmberg is charged with six counts of attempted first degree murder and six counts of first degree assault in connection to the October 12th incident at his home in Glendorado Township.

According to the criminal complaint, several Sherburne County Drug Task Force members showed up at his home just after 7:00 a.m. to serve a knock and announce search warrant. Benton County Sheriff Troy Heck says officers gave Holmberg plenty of time to come to the door, but he did not, so six officers went inside to get him and were met with gunfire. Two officers were hit in their vests, and three suffered gunshot wounds. One officer in the home was not hurt. Holmberg surrendered several hours later.

Court documents say Holmberg’s wife told police she woke up to her husband saying “they” were here. She said she checked a monitor inside the bedroom showing the outside of the house where she saw the police. Holmberg told her it was his day to die and had multiple guns laid out on the bed before she heard the door being kicked in. She said her husband kept muttering something to the effect of “don’t do it” before shooting “blindly” through their bedroom door with a military style rifle. She said Holmberg asked her to join the fight and, when she refused, called her a coward.

In a sworn statement, Holmberg told officers he knew they were there but felt they didn’t have the right to be there and told them to leave. When the officers approached the bedroom door, he shot a .223 rifle. Officers fired back, and Holmberg was injured and shot in the foot.

Among the conditions of his bail include not consuming alcohol or drugs, submitting to random drug testing, not leaving the state of Minnesota and not possessing any weapons. Unconditional bail was set at $6 million.

Holmberg is due back in court on October 24th.

___