Suspect in Minnesota lawmaker killing visited other legislators' homes, prosecutors say
MINNEAPOLIS: 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 (Jun 16).
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 US 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 2am on Saturday (3pm, Singapore time), 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 2.24am (3.24pm, Singapore time), 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 am (4.35pm, Singapore time) 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 US 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 US 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."
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