Suspect in Minnesota lawmaker killing visited other legislators' homes, prosecutors say
By
Nathan Layne
, Reuters
This unlocated handout photo released by the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office on 15 June 2025 shows Vance Boelter, the suspected killer of a Democratic Minnesota state lawmaker, as he was being apprehended.
Photo:
Ramsey County Sheriff's Office / AFP
The
suspect accused of assassinating
a Minnesota lawmaker and shooting another this weekend drove to the homes of at least four state politicians as part of a planned killing spree, according to federal authorities.
Vance Boelter, 57, faces state and federal murder charges after he was arrested on Sunday night (local time) following a massive two-day manhunt that was the largest in state history.
He is accused of fatally shooting Melissa Hortman, the top Democrat in the Minnesota House, and her husband, Mark, in their home on Saturday.
Boelter is also charged with shooting and wounding another Democratic lawmaker, state Senator John Hoffman, and his wife Yvette, in their home a few miles away.
On Monday prosecutors said Boelter visited the homes of two other lawmakers on Saturday disguised as a police officer, looking for more victims on his target list.
Investigators have recovered notebooks from his car and residence that detailed some of his planning and included the names of dozens of legislators, mostly or all Democrats, along with abortion rights advocates.
This booking photo released by the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office on June 16, 2025, shows Vance Boelter at the Hennepin County Jail in Minnesota.
Photo:
Handout / Hennepin County Sheriff's Office / AFP
"Political assassinations are rare," Joseph Thompson, Minnesota's acting US attorney, said at a news conference on Monday.
"They strike at the very core of our democracy."
While he characterised the
shootings as politically motivated,
Thompson said a precise motive was not yet clear. Contrary to some earlier news reports, authorities have not discovered a "Unabomber-style manifesto," Thompson said.
Boelter was expected to appear remotely in Hennepin County court on Monday to face second-degree murder and attempted murder charges.
The county's chief prosecutor, Mary Moriarty, said on Monday she will seek first-degree murder charges, which carry a mandatory sentence of life without parole.
Federal prosecutors separately charged Boelter with an array of crimes, including murder, which could lead to a death sentence. He will appear in federal court in St. Paul on Monday.
The Minnesota attacks began around 2am on Saturday, when a gunman wearing a police-style tactical vest and a "hyper-realistic silicone mask" knocked on the Hoffmans' door in Champlin, announced himself as a police officer and then shot the couple multiple times, according to prosecutors.
Police identified the suspect in the Minnesota shootings as Vance Boelter.
Photo:
Supplied / FBI
He was driving an SUV outfitted with police-style lights and a fake license plate that read "POLICE."
Boelter then travelled to the home of another state lawmaker in Maple Grove, where he rang the doorbell at 2.24am, Thompson said. The official, whom prosecutors did not name, was not home.
Boelter also visited the home of a state senator in New Hope, prosecutors said. An officer dispatched to the house to conduct a wellness check after police learned of the Hoffman shooting believed Boelter, who was parked outside, was 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 3.35am 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, they discovered three AK-47 assault rifles, a 9mm handgun, a gold police-style badge and the target list, according to authorities.
Notebooks recovered from Boelter's car, as well as the home where he had been staying, showed he had planned the attacks for some time, prosecutors said.
Police identified the suspect in the Minnesota shootings as Vance Boelter.
Photo:
Supplied / FBI
He had the names and, in some cases, home addresses for more than 45 elected officials, "mostly or all Democrats," according to an FBI affidavit.
In one book, Boelter noted that the Hortmans had two children and included surveillance details about their house, writing, "Big house off golf course 2 ways in to watch from one spot," the affidavit said.
Hours after the shootings, Boelter's wife and other family members received a text message at 6.18am that read, "Dad went to war last night... I don't wanna say more because I don't wanna implicate anybody," according to the affidavit. A second text warned his family to leave the house because some "armed and trigger-happy" people would be arriving.
In addition to her phone, Boelter's wife consented to a search of her car, which turned up two handguns, about $10,000 cash and passports for family members, who were in the car when police came to the house, according to the affidavit.
Authorities said the investigation would determine if Boelter's wife had any role in or was aware of the suspect's plan beforehand. He has five children, according to media reports.
Around 7am on Saturday, Boelter encountered someone at a bus stop in Minneapolis and eventually offered to buy his Buick with cash, according to prosecutors.
Rep. Melissa Hortman and Sen. John Hoffman.
Photo:
Minnesota Legislature via CNN
Investigators on Sunday found the Buick in rural Sibley County, near his listed home address about an hour's drive southwest of Minneapolis.
Inside the car, officers found a handwritten letter to the FBI, in which Boelter gave his name and admitted to the shootings, according to the affidavit.
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 peacefully to police in a field.
The killing was the latest in a series of high-profile episodes of political violence across the country, including the attempted assassination of Republican Donald Trump last year and an arson attack at Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro's house in April.
Minnesota US Senator Amy Klobuchar shared on social media a text message from Yvette Hoffman on Sunday evening that said her husband, John, had been shot nine times, while she was shot eight times.
"We are both incredibly lucky to be alive," Yvette Hoffman wrote.
"We are gutted and devastated by the loss of Melissa and Mark."
-Reuters
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