Gunman posing as police officer shoots Minnesota politicians, their spouses in ‘politically motivated assassination'
A pair of Minnesota politicians and their spouses were shot by a gunman who was allegedly disguised as a police officer in an incident that left one lawmaker and her husband dead.
A manhunt is now underway for the suspect in the shootings, which were initially described as 'targeted' by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
The shootings occurred in the Minneapolis suburbs of Champlin and Brooklyn Park, according to the governor. He later announced that he operated the State Emergency Operations Center.
Local news outlet KSTP was among the first to report that the victim of the Champlin shooting is Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman (MN-34) and the victim of the Brooklyn Park shooting is state Rep. Melissa Hortman. KSTP's report stated that preliminary information indicated multiple people were shot at both locations.
Another local outlet, Fox 9, reported shortly after that the other victims are the lawmakers' spouses.
Ryan Sabas, the Mayor of Champlin, later confirmed the victims were the two state lawmakers.
At a press conference Saturday morning, Gov. Walz confirmed that Rep. Hortman — the Democratic House Speaker Emerita — and her husband died in what he called a 'politically motivated assassination.'
Sen. Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were shot multiple times but were both out of surgery, Walz added, elaborating that he was 'optimistic' about their recovery.
Residents within a three-mile radius of a local golf course are being asked to shelter in place as police search for the alleged killer, who is said to have been posing as law enforcement, according to multiple local media reports.
He is considered by authorities to be armed and dangerous.
Authorities say that all Minnesota state lawmakers and their spouses are under protective custody in coordination with the Minnesota Department of Public Safety and local law enforcement jurisdictions.
Multiple media reports have identified the suspect in the shootings as 57-year-old Vance Boelter; writings found inside a fake police car recovered at one of the shooting scenes mentioned the names of multiple lawmakers and other officials, AP said, citing Brooklyn Park Police Department Chief Mark Bruley.
While the two officials spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity and thus could not publicly confirm the information, NBC News has also identified the suspect as Boelter.
This is a developing story. Stay with KTLA for details.
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