Suspect in Minnesota Shooting Linked to Security Company, Evangelical Ministry

Tess Owen Tim Marchman Leah Feiger Jun 14, 2025 3:49 PM The alleged shooter is a 57-year-old white male; according to his ministry's website, he 'sought out militant Islamists in order to share the gospel and tell them that violence wasn't the answer.' BROOKLYN PARK, MINNESOTA - JUNE 14: A Brooklyn Park police officer looks on as they guard the entrance to a neighborhood on June 14, 2025 in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. Photo:A man named Vance Boelter allegedly shot and killed Melissa Hortman, a Democratic Minnesota state representative, and her husband Mark Hortman at their home at some point early Saturday morning while, according to law enforcement, impersonating a police officer. He also allegedly shot state senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette Hoffman at their home. They are alive, but remain in critical condition.
Law enforcement has said they found a manifesto and hit list in the alleged suspect's car, which included politicians, abortion providers, and pro-abortion rights advocates. There were also allegedly fliers in his car for the 'No Kings' protest against President Donald Trump, which took place in cities across the US on Saturday.
The 57-year-old, who has been identified as the suspected shooter according to numerous reports, runs an armed security service with his wife, and has been affiliated with at least one evangelical organization, a ministry he has also run with his wife, according to a tax filing reviewed by WIRED. (His wife could not be immediately reached for comment.) According to public records and archived websites reviewed by WIRED, the suspect served for a time as the president of Revoformation Ministries. A version of the ministry's website captured in 2011 carries a biography in which he is said to have been ordained in 1993.
According to an archived website for the ministry reviewed by WIRED, the suspected shooter's missionary work took him to Gaza and the West Bank during the Second Intifada, where, the website states, he 'sought out militant Islamists in order to share the gospel and tell them that violence wasn't the answer. '
A later version of the site was designed, according to an archived copy, by Israeli web design firm J-Town. Charlie Kalech, CEO of J-Town, tells WIRED that the alleged suspect was, in his recollection, 'clearly religious and evangelistic. He had lots of ideas to make the world a better place.' The suspect, whom Kalech said was 'nothing but nice to me,' commissioned J-Town, Kalech recalled, because they're Jerusalem-based, and he said he wanted to support Israel.
A Facebook profile under the suspected shooter's name was briefly viewed by WIRED before it was taken down. His profile had shown him 'liking' several evangelical missionary organizations, as well as pages honoring Reinhard Bonnke, a German pentecostal evangelist known for missions in several African countries, and Smith Wigglesworth, a British evangelist who was influential in the pentecostal movement. He also 'liked' the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal advocacy organization known for its hardline stances against abortion and LGBTQ rights.
The suspected shooter also appears to be the director of security patrols at Praetorian Guard Security Services, a security company run servicing the Minneapolis and St. Paul metro areas that he founded with his wife Jenny. The company advertises residential security patrols and uniformed security patrols. 'We only offer armed security. If you are looking for unarmed guards, please work with another service to meet your needs better,' states the 'red lines' section of the company's website. The website also states that their 'guards' wear the 'best personal protective equipment money can buy.'
Officials say that the suspect in the shootings had an SUV kitted out with emergency lights, a badge, and a taser. Though it is not yet clear where the suspect obtained materials to allegedly impersonate a police officer, the Praetorian Guard Security Services website states that their guards 'drive the same make and model of vehicles that many police departments use in the US. Currently we drive Ford Explorer Utility Vehicles.' According to photographs from the scene, the car towed away by law enforcement was a Ford.
The suspected shooter, according to his LinkedIn profile, is a veteran of the food industry, having worked for Johnsonville Sausage, Del Monte, and the British convenience food manufacturer Greencore; recently, he posted that he was looking to return to that sector. (The companies for which his profile says he worked did not immediately reply to requests for comment.) Over the previous several years, according to LinkedIn posts, he had focused on a role as CEO of Red Lion Group, which according to an archived copy of its website had aspirations in the oil refining, logging, and glass production sectors in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
His involvement in the food industry has also seemingly helped him build inroads to local government. In 2019, Minnesota governor Tim Walz appointed him to a Workforce Development Board in the capacity of a 'business and industry representative.' He also served as chair on the Dakota-Scott Workforce Development Board for over a decade, but resigned last year, according to a post on LinkedIn.
Police officers in the Minneapolis suburb of Champlin say they were called at around 2 am to the residence of state senator Hoffman.
At 3:35 am, police officers in nearby Brooklyn Park went to proactively check on Hortman's home. Police chief Mark Bruley said at a press conference that officers discovered an SUV appearing to resemble a squad police car with emergency lights parked in Hortman's driveway. Officers then encountered the alleged suspect, who they said was dressed like a police officer, wearing a police vest and a badge, and was armed with a taser. He immediately fired on them and then retreated back into Hortman's home. Officials believe he fled out the back of the residence. 'No question if they were in this room you would assume they are a police officer,' Bruley said.
Twelve hours later, the shooting suspect is still believed to be at large.
Hortman was first elected to Minnesota's house of representatives in 2004. She served as speaker of the house from 2019 to 2025, finishing her term this year after the state house successfully passed legislation on abortion rights, voting rights, criminal justice reform, marijuana legalization, and more.
'Our state lost a great leader and I lost the dearest of friends,' Walz said in a press conference on Saturday. 'Speaker Hortman was someone who served the people of Minnesota with grace, compassion, humor, and a sense of service. She was a formidable public servant, a fixture, and a giant in Minnesota. She woke up every day determined to make this state a better place. She is irreplaceable and will be missed by so many.'
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

CNN

14 minutes ago

• CNN

Vance refers to Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla as ‘José' while defending Trump's use of National Guard in LA

Vice President JD Vance on Friday took a swipe at Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla, whom he incorrectly called 'José Padilla,' and defended the Trump administration's controversial use of the California National Guard in Los Angeles. 'I was hoping José Padilla would be here to ask a question, but unfortunately, guess he decided not to show up because there wasn't the theater, and that's all it is,' Vance told reporters, speaking from an FBI mobile command center that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is currently using in Los Angeles. Vance dismissed Padilla's appearance last week at Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's press conference as 'pure political theater.' Padilla was forcefully removed, ordered to the ground by law enforcement and placed in handcuffs after attempting to ask Noem a question. Padilla, California's first Latino elected to the US Senate, had interrupted Noem as she was giving remarks in the Los Angeles FBI headquarters on the Trump administration's response to protests in that city against Noem's department and its immigration-enforcement efforts. When asked about the vice president calling the senator by the wrong first name, Vance's spokesperson Taylor Van Kirk brushed it off, telling CNN, 'He must have mixed up two people who have broken the law.' Padilla's communications director Tess Oswald wrote on X, 'As a former colleague of Senator Padilla, the Vice President knows better. He should be more focused on demilitarizing our city than taking cheap shots. Another unserious comment from an unserious administration.' California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom also called Vance out on X, saying it was 'not an accident.' On Friday, Vance also reacted to a federal appeals court allowing President Donald Trump to maintain control over thousands of California National Guardsmen. 'That determination was legitimate, and the president's going to do it again if he has to, but hopefully it won't be necessary,' Vance said. The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals late Thursday granted a request from Trump to lift, for now, a lower-court ruling that had required the president to relinquish control of roughly 4,000 guardsmen from the Golden State that he had federalized to beef up security in Los Angeles amid unrest over immigration enforcement. 'And I think what the Ninth Circuit said very clearly is when the president makes a determination, you've got to send in certain federal officials to protect people,' Vance said, while lashing out at California's Democratic leadership for their handling of the unrest. The vice president also defended the administration's immigration policy, saying Trump wants to prioritize deportations of violent offenders or 'really bad guys,' but that no one who's undocumented should feel immune from enforcement. When asked whether the administration's deportation tactics had gone too far, Vance argued that he didn't think 'we've been too aggressive.' 'Anytime we make a mistake we correct that very quickly,' Vance said.

Yahoo

16 minutes ago

• Yahoo

River group, city meet to talk about access to the Black River

Jun. 19—WATERTOWN — A group of river activists and the city have started working out their longtime differences regarding the group's concerns about access to the Black River. Members of New York Rivers United, a group of whitewater advocates and rafting enthusiasts, met with city officials last Friday to talk about a series of projects that they would like to see completed to give them more river access. The hour-long Zoom meeting "was cordial and productive," said New York Rivers United member Alex Barham, adding that he was satisfied with its outcome. City Manager Eric Wagenaar said he thought it "was a good meeting." For more than a decade, the group and the city were at odds over what is known as the Route 3 Wave, once a popular whitewater kayaking course that was a site of a world championship that drew thousands of spectators. A large rock moved in its way and damaged the course. But the city never corrected the issue. According to Rivers United, the repairs were required by a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission license for the city's Marble Street hydroelectric plant. The city has now agreed to look at the Route 3 Wave. Rivers United members and city officials will go to the site in August when river levels are down to see what can be done to fix the problem, Barham said. The city also has agreed to repair some stairs to the river and complete other repairs along the river near Newell Street, Wagenaar said. "We have to work on some things with them," Wagenaar said. In December, Rivers United, which advocates for accessibility to the river, filed a complaint with FERC about the city never correcting the Route 3 Wave problem. The group also has claimed that the city violated the hydro plant's FERC license on a daily basis since it was renewed in 1995. The river group conducted an audit of the facility that found numerous alleged violations. That prompted the state Department of Environmental Conservation to urge FERC to conduct a noncompliance investigation into the plant. In May, a six-member team from the DEC completed an on-site inspection of the hydro plant. Wagenaar said Wednesday that the DEC will be back next week for a follow-up visit. FERC also required the city to submit a report about the group's complaints about the hydro plant. The city submitted the report last Friday. "They're looking at it," he said, adding that he doesn't know when FERC will complete its response. Rivers United members Steve Massaro and Barham and Dick McDonald of the state Department of Environmental Conservation attended the meeting with the city. City Engineer Tom Compo, hydro plant employee Jeffrey Hammond, Michael A. Lumbis, the city's planning and community development director, and Wagenaar were among the city officials at the meeting. In 1995, the river group, the DEC and FERC negotiated the terms of the current license, designed to mitigate significant commercial, environmental and recreational impacts identified during the relicensing process. Under the 1995 agreement, an account was set up to distribute funding for river accessibility projects. The city and Rivers United were at loggerheads over who decided how to spend that money. The group claimed the city spent about $60,000 from that account, but the DEC and Rivers United never approved it. About $225,000 remains in the account.

Washington Post

16 minutes ago

• Washington Post

US evacuates 79 staff and family from embassy in Israel as more Americans ask how to leave

WASHINGTON — The U.S. evacuated 79 staff and families from the U.S. Embassy in Israel on Friday as the conflict between Israel and Iran intensifies and growing numbers of private American citizens seek information on how to leave Israel and Iran. An internal State Department memo says the military flight, the second known to have occurred this week, left Tel Aviv for Sofia, Bulgaria, where some or all of the passengers were to get a connecting charter flight to Washington. The document, which was obtained by The Associated Press, also said that more than 6,400 U.S. citizens in Israel had filled out an online form on Friday alone asking for information about when and if the U.S. government would organize evacuation flights. An additional 3,265 people, some of whom may also have competed the form, called an emergency number seeking assistance. The document estimated that between 300 and 500 people per day could need evacuation assistance should the U.S. decide to offer flights or ships to get Americans out, as the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, has said is being considered. There are some 700,000 Americans in Israel, many of them dual nationals, according to estimates, although the exact number at any given time is unclear because U.S. citizens are not required to notify the embassy if they are there or when they might leave. Earlier Friday, before the memo was distributed, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters that more than 25,000 Americans had reached out for information on leaving Israel, the West Bank and Iran. She told reporters that those people had sought 'information and support' and were 'seeking guidance' on departing. She would not give a breakdown of where the queries had come from and would not comment on embassy evacuations. In Iran, the document said that at least 84 U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, or Green Card holders, had crossed into neighboring Azerbaijan by land since the conflict began and that an additional 774 had been granted permission to enter as of Friday. Nearly 200 American citizens and Green Card holders are awaiting permission to travel overland from Iran to neighboring Turkmenistan, it said.