The Hortman children are grieving following the Saturday killing of their parents, in what has been called a political assassination. Rep. Melissa Hortman was a longtime Democratic-Farmer-Labor legislator beloved around the Capitol even as she scored major legislative victories.

Melissa Hortman's golden retriever, Gilbert, was shot in a targeted attack that killed her and her husband. Her children had to euthanise him, deepening the tragedy.

The children of Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark Hortman are speaking out on their parents' murders. “They were the bright lights at the center of our lives, and we can’t believe they are gone," Sophie and Colin Hortman wrote in a statement obtained by PEOPLE Monday.