MINNEAPOLIS/WASHINGTON: A gunman posing as a police officer killed a senior Democratic state assemblywoman and her husband on Saturday in an apparent “politically motivated assassination,” and wounded a second lawmaker and his spouse, said Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and law enforcement officials. A major search backed by the FBI was underway for the suspect, who fled on foot after firing at police and abandoning a vehicle in which officers found a “manifesto” and a list of other legislators and officials, law enforcement officials said. The suspect was identified as 57-year-old Vance Luther Boelter, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans told a news briefing.
Boelter should be considered “armed and dangerous” and is believed to still be in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, Evans said, adding that it was too soon to determine a motive.
The suspect had links to evangelical ministries and claimed to be a security expert with experience in the Gaza Strip and Africa, according to his online postings and public records reviewed by Reuters. Boelter also described himself online as a former employee of food service companies.
Evans said investigators were aware of similar reports of his connections and would be exploring them.
The list found in the abandoned vehicle that looked similar to a police SUV contained about 70 names, including abortion providers, and lawmakers in Minnesota and other states, CNN reported, citing law enforcement sources.
ABC News, also citing law enforcement officials, said the list included dozens of Minnesota Democrats including Walz, US Representative Ilhan Omar, Senator Tina Smith and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.
The killings of Melissa Hortman, a former assembly speaker and her husband, Mark, prompted reactions of shock and horror from Republican and Democratic politicians across the country and calls for dialing back increasingly divisive political rhetoric.
The shootings come on the heels of a heated hearing in Congress on Thursday in which Walz and two other Democratic governors defended their states’ policies to maintain sanctuary for undocumented immigrants, drawing attacks from Republicans who support Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown.
Minnesota State Patrol chief Col. Christina Bogojevic said that police found flyers in the suspect’s vehicle with “No Kings” printed on them, but he had no direct links to the thousands of nationwide “No Kings” protests against President Donald Trump’s policies taking place on Saturday.
The protests were timed to counter Trump’s long-sought military parade in Washington. The organizing No Kings Coalition canceled all protests in Minnesota, citing a shelter-in-place order and the suspect’s at-large status.
Trump said he was briefed on the “terrible shooting that took place in Minnesota, which appears to be a targeted attack against State Lawmakers.”
“Such horrific violence will not be tolerated in the United States of America. God Bless the great people of Minnesota, a truly great place!” Trump said in a statement.
Police impersonator
Hortman and her husband were shot dead in their home in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Park, Walz said. The Minneapolis suburb is located in the northern part of Hennepin County, a Democratic stronghold in a state where Republicans have made gains in recent years. Prior to Hortman’s killing, the Minnesota House of Representatives she served in was evenly split 67-67 between Democrats and Republicans.
Hortman’s official website says she and her husband have two children.
Walz said that the gunman went to the Hortmans’ residence after shooting Senator John Hoffman and his wife multiple times in their home in the nearby town of Champlin.
They underwent surgery, Walz said, adding that he was “cautiously optimistic” that they would survive “this assassination attempt.”
“This was an act of targeted political violence,” he said. “Peaceful discourse is the foundation of our democracy. We don’t settle our differences with violence or at gunpoint.”
Law enforcement officials said the gunman attacked the Hoffmans at around 2 a.m. CDT (0700 GMT) and then drove about five miles to the Hortmans’ residence.
Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley said that a “very intuitive” police sergeant who responded to the Hoffman attack asked colleagues to “proactively” check the Hortmans’ residence.
The two officers arriving at the Hortmans’ home saw what appeared to be a police vehicle parked in the driveway with its emergency lights on and an individual dressed and equipped as a police officer leaving the home, he said.
The suspect “immediately fired upon the officers, who exchanged gunfire and the suspect retreated back into the home,” Bruley continued.
The suspect wore a vest with a taser, other police equipment and a badge when he fled the home. The Hortmans and Hoffmans were on the list of names found in the suspect’s car, officials said.
The FBI called the shooting a “deliberate and violent attack on public servants and their families.” It offered a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the suspect’s arrest.
Political violence surge
The pre-dawn Minnesota killings come amid a surge in US political attacks in recent years, underscoring the dark side of the nation’s deepening political divisions.
These include the attempted 2020 kidnapping of Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, and a man who broke into Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s residence in April and set it on fire.
In July last year, then-candidate Trump escaped an assassination attempt by a gunman while speaking at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
The Texas Department of Public Safety said it arrested a person in connection with a threat against state lawmakers who had planned to attend a protest at the state capitol in Austin, which it evacuated. There was no indication of a direct link to the Minnesota killings.
Trump has faced criticism from some opponents over his handling of incidents involving political violence.
In one of his first moves in office earlier this year, Trump pardoned nearly everyone criminally charged with participating in the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack.
