US manhunt intensifies after Minnesota lawmaker shootings
WASHINGTON - Police and FBI agents waged a huge manhunt Sunday for a gunman who killed a Democratic state lawmaker and her husband in Minnesota, in what officials called a politically motivated attack.
Following the discovery of a vehicle, the search was centred on Sibley County, a rural area about an hour southwest of the Minneapolis suburb where the killings took place early Saturday.
"Over 100 law enforcement officers and numerous SWAT teams... are in that area searching for him," Drew Evans, head of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, told a press conference Sunday evening.
A second lawmaker and his spouse were also attacked in a nearby community, surviving but with serious injuries, authorities said.
He said it was not clear if the suspect, 57-year-old Vance Boelter, was on foot. When asked if Boelter was possibly receiving assistance, the official said "all options are on the table."
Boelter, disguised as a police officer, is alleged to have shot and killed Democratic state representative Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark at their home early Saturday.
Before those murders, he also allegedly shot and wounded Democratic State Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette.
Yvette said Sunday her husband was "enduring many surgeries" but "is closer every hour to being out the woods," according to a text message from her shared on X by US Senator Amy Klobuchar.
The lawmaker was shot nine times and Yvette eight times, she said in the message.
Boelter fled on foot after exchanging gunfire with officers arriving at the Hortmans' home, where he left a vehicle.
A notebook with names of other lawmakers and potential targets was found inside the car, which Evans said Sunday was not a "traditional manifesto."
"I am concerned about all our political leaders, political organisations," Klobuchar said Sunday.
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Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Through much of high school, Boelter was like every other teen, according to lifelong friend David Carlson. But after Boelter declared himself a born-again Christian, he began preaching in the local park - even living there in a tent, Carlson said. 'Everything in his life - he just changed,' Carlson said Sunday. 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