US politician and husband killed, others injured, after madman posing as cop shoots them

News.com.au

19 hours ago

A Minnesota state politician and her husband were killed, and another politician and his wife were seriously injured in a 'politically motivated attack' when a madman posing as a police officer turned up at their homes and opened fire, authorities said.
Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were gunned down in their Brooklyn Park home shortly after 2am on Saturday local time (4pm AET), The NY Post reports.
The pair was killed after the gunman targeted Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, in their Champlin home roughly 8kms away.
The Hoffmans were rushed into surgery and are in stable condition, officials said at a news conference.
Gov. Tim Walz called the shootings 'an unspeakable tragedy,' and said the incident 'appears to be a politically motivated assassination.'
The shootings came at a moment of deep political divisions in the United States, as thousands prepared to take to the streets in protest at the policies of Republican President Donald Trump.
The Republican president has drawn criticism from Democrats over his harsh deportation policy, his assault on universities and the media and a perceived flouting of limits on executive power as he pushes his agenda.
'At this precipice moment we're on, this tragic act here in Minnesota should serve as a reminder to all of us,' Walz said.
'The democracy and the debates in the halls of Congress, in state houses, in school boards, is a way to settle our differences peacefully and move society to a better place.
The suspect is still on the run, despite making contact with police in the aftermath of the Hortman double homicide, according to Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley.
Officers dispatched to Hortman's home as other units investigated the Hoffman shooting discovered a car outfitted with flashing lights to look like an SUV squad car.
'When they arrived at Melissa's house, they noticed that there was a police vehicle in the driveway with the emergency lights on and what appeared to be a police officer at the door coming out of the house,' Mr Bruley said, adding that the suspect was wearing a vest, a badge and other equipment, such as a Taser, 'very similar to mine.'
'When our officers confronted him, the individual immediately fired upon the officers, who exchanged gunfire, and the suspect retreated back into the home,' he continued.
'It was not a real police officer. This is someone that clearly had been impersonating a police officer who uses the trust of this badge and this uniform to manipulate their way into the home.'
Gunfire was exchanged, but the suspect escaped on foot.
Mark Hortman was alive when Brooklyn Park police entered the home, but he died as they attempted to deliver lifesaving measures.
Melissa Hortman was declared dead at the scene.
As the mayhem unfolded, first responders rushed the Hoffmans to a nearby hospital.
The couple had each been pumped with multiple bullets, but survived the attack.
A manhunt is on for the suspect, who was wearing black body armour over a blue shirt and blue pants.
Cops ordered a shelter-in-place for the 4km radius surrounding the Edinburgh Golf Course near Melissa Hortman's home.
'Police are looking for a suspect in multiple targeted shootings who is armed and dangerous,' Brooklyn Park Police said in an emergency alert sent to residents at 5:30am.
'Suspect is white male, brown hair, wearing black body armour over blue shirt and blue pants and may misrepresent himself as law enforcement.'