Overview
- Karl Thomas Holmberg, 66, was sentenced on Oct. 31 to 918 months in prison, with credit for roughly two years already served.
- The Sherburne County Drug Task Force announced itself while serving a narcotics warrant at Holmberg’s home, and gunfire erupted within seconds, wounding three officers by bullets and striking two in their ballistic vests.
- A Benton County jury convicted Holmberg of 15 counts after a two‑week trial in August, including seven counts of first‑degree attempted murder of a peace officer, and he pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm.
- Court records say Holmberg fired blindly through a bedroom door after telling his wife it was his day to die, an hours‑long standoff followed, he admitted using a .223 rifle, and a search later found meth and several guns.
- Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office prosecuted the case and condemned the attack on law enforcement, and Sheriff Joel Brott praised the sentence as preventing further violence.