Who is Vance Boelter? Tim Walz appointee with armed security training in Africa named as suspect in Minnesota Democrat shootings
The suspect named in the Minnesota Democrat shootings has armed security experience and a history of public service.
Vance Luther Boelter, 57, was named as the suspect for the death of Minnesota lawmaker Melissa Hortman and the assassination attempt of Senator John Hoffman.
Hortman and her husband were fatally shot at their home on Saturday. Hoffman and his wife were also shot at their home and left critically injured.
The alleged shooter has armed security experience in the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe, and North America through the Praetorian Guard Security Services, his biography on the site said.
'He brings a great security aspect forged by both many on the ground experiences combined with training by both private security firms and by people in the US Military,' it read.
'Vance has focused all this experience to make sure Praetorian Guard Security Services covers the needs you have to keep your family and property safe.'
Boelter has also lived a life of public service before today's tragedies, and he even served on the Governor's Workforce Development Board, which works closely with Governor Tim Walz to give advice on the state's workforce.
He served on the board from June 2016 to June 2018 as a private sector representative and from December 2019 to January 2023 as a board member.
He was appointed under Governor Walz both times.
Boelter was also the CEO of Red Lion Group, which was based in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Red Lion Group has since deleted its website and LinkedIn pages, but Boelter's LinkedIn said he started at the company in December 2021.
He announced two years ago that he was in the country with his company, working on 'private business projects.'
Police are still searching for Boelter as of Saturday afternoon.
It comes after the at-large assailant is thought to have impersonated a police officer when he entered the Champlin residence of Senator John Hoffman and his wife early Saturday, shooting both and leaving them critically injured.
The shooter then proceeded to the home of former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman, where she and her husband were fatally shot.
Local police, sheriff's deputies, and the FBI have launched an extensive manhunt, with SWAT teams seen moving through the sleepy Minnesota neighborhood where the shootings took place.
During a Saturday morning press conference, officials said they are investigating the possibility of multiple shooters, however no one is in custody.
Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley said the suspect's vehicle contained a 'manifesto', a list of targets including both lawmakers, and signs for an anti-Trump 'NO KINGS' rally set to be held on Saturday.
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The Independent
an hour ago
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Friends say Minnesota shooting suspect was deeply religious and conservative
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Records show Boelter registered to vote as a Republican while living in Oklahoma in 2004 before moving to Minnesota where voters don't list party affiliation. Near the scene at Hortman's home, authorities say they found an SUV made to look like those used by law enforcement. Inside they found fliers for a local anti-Trump 'No Kings' rally scheduled for Saturday and a notebook with names of other lawmakers. The list also included the names of abortion rights advocates and health care officials, according to two law enforcement officials who could not discuss details of the ongoing investigation and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity. Both Hortman and Hoffman were defenders of abortion rights at the state legislature. Suspect not believed to have made any public threats before attacks, official says Drew Evans, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said at a briefing on Sunday that Boelter is not believed to have made any public threats before the attacks. Evans asked the public not to speculate on a motivation for the attacks. 'We often want easy answers for complex problems,' he told reporters. 'Those answers will come as we complete the full picture of our investigation.' Friends told the AP that they knew Boelter was religious and conservative, but that he didn't talk about politics often and didn't seem extreme. "He was right-leaning politically but never fanatical, from what I saw, just strong beliefs,' said Paul Schroeder, who has known Boelter for years. A glimpse of suspect's beliefs on abortion during a trip to Africa Boelter, who worked as a security contractor, gave a glimpse of his beliefs on abortion during a trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2023. While there, Boelter served as an evangelical pastor, telling people he had first found Jesus as a teenager. 'The churches are so messed up, they don't know abortion is wrong in many churches,' he said, according to an online recording of one sermon from February 2023. Still, in three lengthy sermons reviewed by the AP, he only mentioned abortion once, focusing more on his love of God and what he saw as the moral decay in his native country. He appears to have hidden his more strident beliefs from his friends back home. 'He never talked to me about abortion,' Schroeder said. 'It seemed to be just that he was a conservative Republican who naturally followed Trump.' A married father with five children, Boelter and his wife own a sprawling 3,800-square-foot house on a large rural lot about an hour from downtown Minneapolis that the couple bought in 2023 for more than a half-million dollars. Seeking to reinvent himself He worked for decades in managerial roles for food and beverage manufacturers before seeking to reinvent himself in middle age, according to resumes and a video he posted online. After getting an undergraduate degree in international relations in his 20s, Boelter went back to school and earned a master's degree and then a doctorate in leadership studies in 2016 from Cardinal Stritch University, a private Catholic college in Wisconsin that has since shut down. While living in Wisconsin, records show Boelter and his wife Jenny founded a nonprofit corporation called Revoformation Ministries, listing themselves as the president and secretary. After moving to Minnesota about a decade ago, Boelter volunteered for a position on a state workforce development board, first appointed by then-Gov. Mark Dayton, a Democrat, in 2016, and later by Democratic Gov. Tim Walz. He served through 2023. In that position, he may have crossed paths with one of his alleged victims. Hoffman served on the same board, though authorities said it was not immediately clear how much the two men may have interacted. Launching a security firm Records show Boelter and his wife started a security firm in 2018. A website for Praetorian Guard Security Services lists Boelter's wife as the president and CEO while he is listed as the director of security patrols. The company's homepage says it provides armed security for property and events and features a photo of an SUV painted in a two-tone black and silver pattern similar to a police vehicle, with a light bar across the roof and 'Praetorian' painted across the doors. Another photo shows a man in black tactical gear with a military-style helmet and a ballistic vest with the company's name across the front. In an online resume, Boelter also billed himself as a security contractor who worked oversees in the Middle East and Africa. On his trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo, he told Chris Fuller, a friend, that he had founded several companies focused on farming and fishing on the Congo River, as well as in transportation and tractor sales. 'It has been a very fun and rewarding experience and I only wished I had done something like this 10 years ago,' he wrote in a message shared with the AP. But once he returned home in 2023, there were signs that Boelter was struggling financially. That August, he began working for a transport service for a funeral home, mostly picking up bodies of those who had died in assisted living facilities — a job he described as he needed to do to pay bills. Tim Koch, the owner of Metro First Call, said Boelter 'voluntarily left' that position about four months ago. 'This is devastating news for all involved,' Koch said, declining to elaborate on the reasons for Boelter's departure, citing the ongoing law enforcement investigation. Boelter had also started spending some nights away from his family, renting a room in a modest house in northern Minneapolis shared by friends. Heavily armed police executed a search warrant on the home Saturday. 'I'm going to be gone for awhile' In the hours before Saturday's shootings, Boelter texted two roommates to tell them he loved them and that 'I'm going to be gone for a while,' according to Schroeder, who was forwarded the text and read it to the AP. 'May be dead shortly, so I just want to let you know I love you guys both and I wish it hadn't gone this way,' Boelter wrote. '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 the trouble this has caused.' ___ Associated Press writer Mike Balsamo contributed to this report from Washington. Contact AP's global investigative team at Investigative@ or
Daily Mail
an hour ago
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Luigi Mangione's jailhouse pal reveals suspected assassin's job behind bars
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