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.

"The best way to honor our parents' memory is to do something, whether big or small, to make our community just a little better for someone else.”

Days after authorities say a gunman posing as a police officer fatally shot their parents and wounded two others, the children of Democratic Minnesota State Rep. Melissa Hortman, are speaking out about their loss.