Who Is Vance Boelter? What to Know About the Man Accused of Shooting Minnesota Lawmakers
Vance Boelter was arrested on June 15 after allegedly shooting two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses in their homes
He evaded authorities for nearly two days before he was arrested
Boelter worked several different jobs and was living with a friend at the time of the shootingsVance Boelter was arrested for allegedly shooting two Democratic Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses.
He is the alleged killer of lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark. The shooting occurred in their home outside Minneapolis, Minn., in the early hours of June 14. Boelter also allegedly shot Democratic Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, in their home, but both of them survived the assassination attempt.
Boelter was missing for nearly two days before Governor Tim Walz and law enforcement officials confirmed that they had arrested him in the woods near his home in Green Isle, Minn., on the night of June 15, per CBS News.
Boelter previously said he is a dad of five who worked for funeral service companies and once claimed to own a security firm. His motivations for the attacks have not been officially confirmed, but Gov. Walz described the shootings as "politically motivated."
Here's everything to know about Vance Boelter, the man arrested for allegedly shooting two Democratic Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses on June 14.
In the early hours of June 14, Boelter allegedly set out to assassinate several Minnesota lawmakers.
First, officials said, he approached Sen. Hoffman's home in Champlin, Minn., where, according to Walz, he impersonated a law enforcement official and shot both the state senator and his wife, Yvette. The Hoffmans' daughter was home at the time of the shootings and called police, who transported the wounded couple to a hospital.
After identifying the victims, police decided to check on the Hortmans' home. When officers arrived at the home in Brooklyn Park, they saw a vehicle that mimicked a police car with its emergency lights on, per CNN. Boelter, who was dressed as a police officer, allegedly left the home just a few minutes later and began shooting at the police. He was able to evade authorities and escaped on foot out of the neighborhood. Both Melissa and Mark died as a result of their gunshot wounds.
Melissa was a Democrat who represented Minnesota House District 34B and served as the Speaker Emerita of the Minnesota House, per her Minnesota Legislature bio. She was initially elected in 2004 and was working her 11th term at the time of her death.
Melissa and Mark, who would have celebrated their 32nd wedding anniversary in August, were parents to a daughter, Sophia, and a son, Colin, according to her website.
Shortly after he shot the four individuals, Boelter escaped via a nearby golf course, and a statewide manhunt commenced. Within hours, authorities searched for Boelter at the home he was renting, made contact with his wife and inspected the vehicle he allegedly used during the shootings.
Inside the vehicle, which was described as looking "exactly like an SUV squad car," authorities discovered a "manifesto" with a "list of names" or seeming potential targets, per a June 14 press conference.
After a 43-hour manhunt across Minnesota, police found Boelter in the woods near the home he shared with his wife and children outside Green Isle, Minn. Officials shared that he was "armed" at the time of his arrest, but added "there was no use of force."
"There's no question that this is the largest manhunt in the state's history," Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley said in a press conference after the arrest.
Drew Evans, the superintendent of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, added, "We are confident that the violence that he committed and the murders he committed, and the attempted murders, that he conducted that activity alone. We will be exploring if there are any broader network. We have not encountered that at this time."
After his arrest, Boelter was subsequently charged with two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree attempted murder, the criminal complaint showed, according to Reuters.
Just hours after Boelter evaded authorities, he sent a series of text messages to his roommate, David Carlson, and another individual.
Carlson later spoke to NBC affiliate KARE about their close friendship and read the message Boelter sent him.
"I love you guys. I've made some choices, and you guys don't know anything about this, but I'm going to be gone for a while. I may be dead shortly," Boelter allegedly wrote. "So I just want to let you know that I love you guys both, and wish it hadn't gone this way. I don't want to say anything more and implicate you in any way, because you guys don't know anything about this. But I love you guys, and I'm sorry for all the trouble this has caused.'
In addition to other professional interests, Boelter served on a state economic and business development board, the Minnesota Governor's Workforce Development Board. Boelter became a member in 2016 when former Governor Mark Dayton appointed him. In 2019, Gov. Walz reappointed Boelter, but it doesn't appear that the two had a working relationship.
Sen. Hoffman was also on the panel. However, it's unclear if the two knew each other, since there are 41 members on the board. Hoffman and Boelter attended a virtual meeting together in 2022 to discuss the job market after the COVID-19 pandemic, according to The New York Times.
Carlson, who said that he had known Boelter since the fourth grade, alleged that his longtime friend was struggling both financially and mentally. Carlson said that Boelter "just gave up on life for some reason," per The New York Times.
Carlson also shed some light on Boelter's political beliefs and claimed that his friend had voted for President Donald Trump in the 2024 election, had a "fascination with military equipment" and "really hated" abortion, per an interview with Fox 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul. Carlson also claimed that Boelter had written a book about his religious beliefs.
In addition, Carlson alleged that Boelter gave him a four-month advance in his rent payments ahead of his alleged shootings. Boelter rented a room at Carlson's house while working in the funeral industry because his family home was allegedly further away from his job.
Boelter has previously said that he and his wife, Jenny, are parents to five children, per The New York Times. At the time of the shootings, Boelter was living with Carlson and working with a couple funeral service companies.
Prior to his most recent work experience, Boelter, who graduated from St. Cloud State University in 1996, worked in the food industry for years before he shifted his focus. Boelter alleged that he and his wife founded the private security company, Praetorian Guard Security Services.
However, Carlson told Fox 9 that the security company was nothing more than a dream. When asked about the business, he replied, "No, that was just some fantasy. It was never ... He would talk about it but there was no movement on that part."
Boelter also shared videos online as a speaker for Minnesota Africans United, a nonprofit serving African immigrant communities. The organization later released a statement saying that Boelter was involved in a 2022 webinar, but he "was never hired, paid, or contracted by Minnesota Africans United. He has never served in any official capacity, and we have had no contact with him since that one-time appearance."
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