Updated: 11:57 a.m.
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (Reuters) -The suspect in the assassination of a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband this weekend drove to the homes of three other state politicians before he succeeded in killing one of the targets of his carefully planned attack, federal authorities said on Monday.
Vance Boelter, 57, faces state and federal charges of murder after he was arrested on Sunday night following a massive two-day manhunt that was the largest in state history.
He is charged with fatally shooting Melissa Hortman, the top Democrat in the Minnesota House, and her husband, Mark, in their home on Saturday. Boelter is also accused of shooting and wounding another Democratic lawmaker, state Senator John Hoffman, and his wife Yvette, in their home a few miles away.
Prosecutors said Boelter also visited the homes of two other lawmakers on Saturday while disguised as a police officer, apparently targeting more victims. Investigators have said they discovered a list in his car that included the names of dozens of legislators.
Boelter was charged with two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree attempted murder in Hennepin County. The county’s chief prosecutor, Mary Moriarty, said at a news conference on Monday that her office would seek first-degree murder charges, which carry a mandatory sentence of life without the possibility of parole.
Federal prosecutors separately charged Boelter with an array of crimes, including murder, which could lead to a death sentence.
“Political assassinations are rare,” Joseph Thompson, Minnesota’s acting U.S. attorney, said at a news conference on Monday. “They strike at the very core of our democracy.”
Boelter is expected to make an initial appearance in federal court on Monday afternoon.
The Minnesota attacks began around 2 a.m. on Saturday, when a gunman wearing a police-style tactical vest knocked on the Hoffmans’ door in Champlin, announced himself as a police officer and then shot the couple multiple times inside, according to prosecutors.
He was driving an SUV outfitted with police-style lights and a fake license plate that read “POLICE.”
Boelter then traveled to the home of another state lawmaker in Maple Grove, where he rang the doorbell at 2:24 a.m., Thompson said. The official was not home at the time.
Boelter also visited the home of a legislator in New Hope, prosecutors said. A New Hope officer – dispatched to the house to conduct a wellness check after police learned of the Hoffman shooting – took Boelter, who was parked outside, to be another police officer and pulled up next to him.
“He just sat there and stared straight ahead,” Thompson said of Boelter. The responding officer went to the door to wait for additional officers, and Boelter had left by the time they arrived, prosecutors said.
Shortly after, police went to the Hortmans’ house in Brooklyn Park as a precaution. The arriving officers saw the suspect shoot Mark Hortman through an open door around 3:35 a.m. and exchanged fire with him before he fled on foot out the back door, according to prosecutors.
Melissa Hortman was already dead inside.
When police searched Boelter’s SUV after the shootings, they discovered three AK-47 assault rifles, a 9-mm handgun, a gold police-style badge and the target list, according to authorities.
MASSIVE MANHUNT
Investigators on Sunday found a vehicle Boelter had been using in rural Sibley County, near his listed home address about an hour’s drive southwest of Minneapolis. More than 20 SWAT teams combed the area, aided by surveillance aircraft, officials said. Boelter, who was armed, crawled from a wooded area and surrendered to police in a field with no shots fired.
The operation to capture Boelter drew on the work of hundreds of detectives and included a wide range of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, Brooklyn Park police Chief Mark Bruley said during a news conference on Sunday.
The killing was the latest in a series of high-profile episodes of political violence across the country, including a 2022 attack on former Democratic U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband at their home, the attempted assassination of Donald Trump last year and an arson attack at Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s house in April.
“A moment in this country where we watch violence erupt, this cannot be the norm,” Governor Tim Walz said after Boelter’s arrest. “It cannot be the way that we deal with our political differences.”
Officials have not publicly identified a specific motive. Minnesota U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar said during an NBC appearance on Sunday that the suspect’s target list showed that his opposition to abortion was one motivating factor.
Klobuchar shared on social media a text message from Yvette Hoffman on Sunday evening that said her husband, John, was “enduring many surgeries right now.” He was shot nine times, and she was shot eight times, the message said.
“We are both incredibly lucky to be alive,” she wrote. “We are gutted and devastated by the loss of Melissa and Mark.”
(Reporting by Nathan Layne in Minneapolis; Additional reporting by Brendan O’Brien, Sarah N. Lynch and Leonardo Benassatto; Writing by Joseph Ax; Editing by Gareth Jones and Bill Berkrot)
Updated: 7:31 a.m.
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (Reuters) -A man accused of killing a Democratic state lawmaker while posing as a police officer is expected to appear in a Minnesota court on Monday afternoon on state murder charges.
Vance Boelter, 57, is being held in Hennepin County after he was arrested on Sunday following a massive manhunt over the weekend. Boelter is accused of shooting dead Melissa Hortman, the top Democrat in the Minnesota House, and her husband, Mark, in their home on Saturday.
Authorities said Boelter was also suspected of shooting and wounding another Democratic lawmaker, state Senator John Hoffman, and his wife Yvette at their home a few miles away.
Governor Tim Walz has characterized the crimes as a “politically motivated assassination”.
“A moment in this country where we watch violence erupt, this cannot be the norm. It cannot be the way that we deal with our political differences,” Walz said.
Boelter was charged with two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree attempted murder, a criminal complaint showed. He is scheduled to appear in court at 1:30 p.m. local time, jail records showed.
Three of those charges are punishable with jail terms of up to 40 years, according to a Hennepin County criminal complaint unsealed on Sunday.
Boelter had been impersonating a police officer while carrying out the shootings, wearing an officer’s uniform and driving a Ford SUV with police-style lights, the complaint said.
Boelter fled on foot early on Saturday when officers confronted him at Hortman’s Brooklyn Park home, said authorities who had warned residents to stay indoors for their own safety and unleashed the state’s biggest manhunt.
When police searched Boelter’s SUV after the shootings, they discovered three AK-47 assault rifles, a 9-mm handgun, and a list of other public officials including their addresses, the criminal complaint showed.
Working on a tip that Boelter was near his home in the city of Green Isle, more than 20 SWAT teams combed the area, aided by surveillance aircraft, officials said. Boelter was armed but surrendered with no shots fired.
The operation to capture Boelter, drawing on the work of hundreds of detectives and a wide range of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, was the largest manhunt in state history, Brooklyn Park police Chief Mark Bruley said during a news conference on Sunday.
The killing was the latest episode of high-profile U.S. political violence.
Such incidents range from a 2022 attack on former Democratic U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband at their home, to an assassination bid on Donald Trump last year, and an arson attack at Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s house in April.
(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in ChicagoEditing by Gareth Jones)
Updated: 5:09 a.m. Monday (6/16)
MINNEAPOLIS, (Reuters) -A massive two-day manhunt ended on Sunday with the arrest of Vance Boelter, 57, for allegedly killing a Minnesota Democratic state lawmaker and her husband while posing as a police officer, Governor Tim Walz said.
Boelter allegedly shot dead Melissa Hortman, the top Democrat in the Minnesota House, and her husband, Mark, in their home on Saturday – a crime Governor Tim Walz characterized as a “politically motivated assassination.”
Authorities said Boelter also allegedly shot and wounded another Democratic lawmaker, state Senator John Hoffman, and his wife Yvette at their home a few miles away.
“After a two-day manhunt, two sleepless nights, law enforcement have apprehended Vance Boelter,” Walz told a news conference. “One man’s unthinkable actions have altered the state of Minnesota.
“A moment in this country where we watch violence erupt, this cannot be the norm. It cannot be the way that we deal with our political differences. Now is the time for us to recommit to the core values of this country, and each and every one of us can do it.”
Walz said Hoffman, who had been hit with nine bullets, came out of his final surgery and was moving towards recovery.
Boelter has links to evangelical ministries and claimed to be a security expert with experience in the Gaza Strip and Africa, according to online postings and public records reviewed by Reuters.
Boelter was charged with two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree attempted murder, the criminal complaint showed.
Three of those charges are punishable with jail terms of up to 40 years, according to the complaint unsealed on Sunday.
Boelter had been impersonating a police officer while carrying out the shootings, wearing an officer’s uniform and driving a Ford SUV with police-style lights, according to a Hennepin County criminal complaint unsealed on Sunday.
Boelter fled on foot early on Saturday when officers confronted him at Hortman’s Brooklyn Park home, said authorities who had warned residents to stay indoors for their own safety and unleashed the state’s biggest manhunt.
When police searched Boelter’s SUV after the shootings they discovered three AK-47 assault rifles, a 9-mm handgun, and a list of other public officials including their addresses, the criminal complaint showed.
Working on a tip that Boelter was near his home in the city of Green Isle, more than 20 SWAT teams combed the area, aided by surveillance aircraft, officials said. Boelter was armed but surrendered with no shots fired.
“The suspect crawled to law enforcement teams and was placed under arrest,” Lieutenant Colonel Jeremy Geiger of the Minnesota State Patrol told the briefing. “The suspect was taken into custody without any use of force.”
The operation to capture Boelter, drawing on the work of hundreds of detectives and a wide range of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, was the largest manhunt in state history, Brooklyn Park police Chief Mark Bruley said.
“Now begins the hard work of looking at what the motive is,” Bruley said.
The killing was the latest episode of high-profile U.S. political violence.
Such incidents range from a 2022 attack on former Democratic U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband at their home, to an assassination bid on Donald Trump last year, and an arson attack at Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s house in April.
(Reporting by Tom Polansek and Nathan Layne; Additional reporting by Michelle Nichols, Leah Douglas, Michael Martina, Costas Pitas and Katharine Jackson, and Rishabh Jaiswal and Shubham Kalia in Bengaluru; Writing by Michael Perry, Joseph Ax and Andy Sullivan; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) – Police arrested a man on Sunday who allegedly shot dead a Democratic state lawmaker and her husband while posing as a police officer, according to ABC News, citing several sources.
ABC News said the man was arrested near his farm near Green Isle, Minnesota, but Minnesota Department of Public Safety did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the arrest.
The sheriff’s office in Minnesota’s Ramsey County posted a photo on social media on Sunday which appears to show the suspected gunman, Vance Luther Boelter, 57, in custody.
A massive manhunt has been underway following the shooting deaths of Melissa Hortman, the top Democrat in the Minnesota House, and her husband, Mark, which Governor Tim Walz characterized as a “politically motivated assassination.”
Authorities had said earlier that they had found a car, hat and other items belonging to Boelter in a rural area southwest of Minneapolis, but had not found him yet.
“We’re certainly operating as though he’s still alive, and believe he is at this time,” Drew Evans, head of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, told a news briefing before the ABC news report.
Boelter fled on foot early on Saturday when officers confronted him at Hortman’s Brooklyn Park home.
Police say the same gunman that killed Hortman had earlier shot and wounded another Democratic lawmaker, state Senator John Hoffman, and his wife Yvette at their home a few miles away, authorities said.
Hoffman was undergoing surgery after being hit with nine bullets and “is closer every hour to being out of the woods,” Yvette said in a text message posted to social media by U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat.
“We are both incredibly lucky to be alive,” Yvette said in the message.
Authorities in Sibley County, about an hour by car from the scene of the crime, instructed residents to keep their doors locked after finding the suspect’s car.
The location of the car in Faxon Township is about four miles (6.4 km) east of Boelter’s listed home address in Green Isle, which was searched by law enforcement officers on Saturday.
The gunman had left behind a different vehicle outside Hortman’s house in suburban Minneapolis that resembled a police SUV, including flashing lights, and contained a target list of other politicians and institutions, officials said.
Boelter has links to evangelical ministries and claimed to be a security expert with experience in the Gaza Strip and Africa, according to online postings and public records reviewed by Reuters.
The Minnesota Star Tribune, citing law enforcement officials, reported the target list included abortion providers and several dozen Minnesota Democrats, including Walz, who was also the Democratic vice presidential candidate last year, and Klobuchar, a 2020 presidential candidate.
“There clearly was some through line with abortion, because of the groups that were on the list. So that was one of his motivations,” Klobuchar said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
The killing was the latest in a series of high-profile episodes of U.S. political violence, including the attack on former Democratic U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband at their home in 2022, the attempted assassination of Donald Trump during last year’s presidential campaign, and an arson attack at Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s house in April.
GUNMAN POSED AS OFFICER
Damon Voight, who lives down the road from Boelter’s house in a rural area of Green Isle, said his wife was afraid with the suspect on the loose.
“My wife is freaked out,” Voight said. “She’s like, ‘We’ve got guns in the house, right?'”
The city of Champlin, home to the Hoffmans, said it shut down its annual Father Hennepin festival for the weekend, which included live music and a carnival.
Outside the state capitol in St. Paul, a small memorial had taken shape, with flowers, American flags and handwritten messages on yellow post-it notes.
“Justice for Melissa,” read one note, with a drawing of a heart on it.
Klobuchar said she had seen both Hortman and Hoffman at a political dinner on Friday, just hours before they were shot.
“We started out together in politics, moms with young kids, and somehow she was able to balance getting to know every door, knock on every house in her district, while raising two children – Girl Scout leader, she taught Sunday school,” the U.S. senator said of Hortman, 55.
The attacks started around 2 a.m. (0700 GMT) on Saturday, when authorities said the gunman shot the Hoffmans in their home before driving several miles to Hortman’s home in neighboring Brooklyn Park.
The FBI released photos of the suspect wearing a rubber mask and a police-like uniform.
(Reporting by Tom Polansek and Nathan Layne; Additional reporting by Michelle Nichols, Leah Douglas, Michael Martina, Costas Pitas and Katharine Jackson; Writing by Joseph Ax and Andy Sullivan; Editing by Michelle Nichols, Bill Berkrot, Diane Craft and Michael Perry)
Comments