Former Minnesota House speaker and husband killed in politically motivated shooting, Gov. Walz says
CHAMPLIN, Minn. — Former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed Saturday in a politically motivated shooting, Gov. Tim Walz said.
A second state legislator and his wife were wounded in a separate attack. Both targeted lawmakers are Democrats.
Officials say the suspect in the shootings was still at large.
Mayor Ryan Sabas of the town of Champlin earlier announced that state Sen. John Hoffman and state Rep. Hortman had been shot, and that Hoffman's wife was also shot.
Walz and other authorities said at a news conference that the assailant was posing as a law enforcement officer. Investigators were working to establish motive for the attacks, officials said. Walz said the shootings were targeted.
Hortman was the top House Democratic leader in the state Legislature and a former House speaker. She was first elected in 2004. Hortman, a lawyer, was married with two children.
Hoffman, also Democrat, was first elected in 2012. He runs Hoffman Strategic Advisors, a consulting firm. He previously served as vice chair of the Anoka Hennepin School Board, which manages the largest school district in Minnesota.
Hoffman is married and has one daughter.
Both Hoffman and Hortman represent districts located north of Minneapolis.
The shootings happened at a time when political leaders nationwide have been attacked, harassed and intimidated during a time of deep political divisions.
Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, leader of Giffords, a national gun violence prevention group, said in a statement: 'I am horrified and heartbroken by last night's attack on two patriotic public servants. My family and I know the horror of a targeted shooting all too well. An attack against lawmakers is an attack on American democracy itself. Leaders must speak out and condemn the fomenting violent extremism that threatens everything this country stands for.'
Giffords was shot in the head in 2011 by a gunman who killed six people and injured 12 others. She stepped down from Congress in January 2012 to focus on her recovery.
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