Search for suspect in shooting of 2 Minnesota lawmakers leads to one of his vehicles in rural area
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More than 24 hours after authorities first confronted him outside Hortman's home, Boelter was still on the loose after fleeing on foot. The FBI issued a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to his arrest and conviction. They circulated a photo taken Saturday of Boelter wearing a tan cowboy hat and asked the public to report sightings.
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Investigators found a cowboy hat near the vehicle and were working to determine whether it belongs to Boelter. Law enforcement officers were searching the area, including nearby homes. The officials could not discuss details of the ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
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Tire marks from police vehicles mark the lawn of suspect Vance Luther Boelter's home in Minneapolis.
Bruce Kluckhohn/Associated Press
The search was happening in rural Sibley County, roughly 50 miles (80 kilometers) southwest of Minneapolis, where Boelter had a home with his wife and five children. Residents in the area received an emergency alert about the located vehicle that warned them to lock their doors and cars.
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A crowd of officers were seen congregated on a dirt road near the abandoned dark sedan believed to have been used by Boelter. Doors on both sides of the car were splayed open, with discarded items scattered near the vehicle. Some officers broke off and walked into a wooded area off the road. The car was later towed away.
'We believe he's somewhere in the vicinity and that they are going to find him,' U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota said Sunday on NBC's 'Meet the Press.' 'But right now, everyone's on edge here, because we know that this man will kill at a second.'
A makeshift memorial for Minnesota state Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark is seen at the state Capitol.
George Walker IV/Associated Press
The shootings come as political leaders nationwide have been attacked, harassed and intimidated amid deep political divisions. Lawmakers said they were disturbed by the attacks as Twin Cities residents mourned.
Brightly colored flowers and small American flags were placed Sunday on the gray marbled stone of the Minnesota State Capitol along with a photo of the Hortmans. People scrawled messages on small notes including, 'You were our leader through the hardest of times. Rest in Power.'
Pam Stein came with flowers and kneeled by the memorial. It made Stein emotional to think about Hortman, whom she called an 'absolute powerhouse' and 'the real unsung hero of Minnesota government.'
'She had a way of bringing people to the table and getting things done like no one else could do,' said Stein, a retired lawyer.
The Hoffmans were recovering from surgery, according to their nephew, Mat Ollig.
No details on motive
Authorities have not yet given details on a motive.
A list of about 70 names was found in writings recovered from the fake police vehicle that was left at the crime scene, the officials said. The writings and list of names included prominent state and federal lawmakers and community leaders, along with abortion rights advocates and information about healthcare facilities, according to the officials.
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A Minnesota official told the AP that lawmakers who had been outspoken in favor of abortion rights were on the list. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing.
The attacks prompted warnings to other state elected officials and the cancellation of planned 'No Kings' demonstrations against President Donald Trump, though some went ahead anyway, including one that drew tens of thousands to the State Capitol in St. Paul. Authorities said the suspect had 'No Kings' flyers in his car.
Law enforcement agents recovered several AK-style firearms from the suspect's vehicle, and he was believed to still be armed with a pistol, a person familiar with the matter told AP. The person could not publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Bullet holes mark the front door of the house of Minnesota state Senator John Hoffman and his wife who were shot earlier in the day.
Bruce Kluckhohn/Associated Press
The suspect
Boelter is a former political appointee who served on the same state workforce development board as Hoffman, records show, though it was not clear if or how well they knew each other.
Around 6 a.m. Saturday, Boelter texted friends to apologize for his actions, though he didn't say what he had done.
'I'm going to be gone for a while. 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. … I'm sorry for all the trouble this has caused," he wrote in messages viewed by the AP.
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Armed FBI agents search for an active shooter, sweeping a neighborhood adjacent to the home of Minnesota DFL State Representative Melissa Hortman, in Brooklyn Park, Minn.
Alex Kormann/Associated Press
Two Democrats targeted
Police first responded to reports of gunfire at the Hoffmans' home shortly after 2 a.m. Saturday and found the couple with multiple gunshot wounds.
Local police from Brooklyn Park were assisting with the call and decided to proactively check on Hortman's home nearby, Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley said Saturday.
There, they encountered what appeared to be a police vehicle and a man dressed as an officer leaving the house. Officers confronted him, he fired at them and officers returned fire. The suspect then retreated back into the home and fled on foot, Bruley said. He left behind the vehicle designed to look like a police car where authorities later found writings.
On social media, Gov. Tim Walz remembered Hortman Sunday as, 'The most consequential Speaker in state history.'
Hortman, 55, had been the top Democratic leader in the state House since 2017. She led Democrats in a three-week walkout at the beginning of this year's session in a power struggle with Republicans. Under a power-sharing agreement, she turned the gavel over to Republican Rep. Lisa Demuth and assumed the title speaker emerita.
Police deploy as a manhunt is underway for a shooter that targeted two state lawmakers, in Brooklyn Park, Minn.
Tim Sullivan/Associated Press
Hortman used her position as speaker in 2023 to champion expanded protections for abortion rights, including legislation to solidify Minnesota's status as a refuge for patients from restrictive states who travel to the state to seek abortions — and to protect providers who serve them.
The couple had two adult children.
Hoffman, 60, was first elected in 2012 and was chair of the Senate Human Services Committee, which oversees one of the biggest parts of the state budget. He and his wife have one adult daughter.
Karnowski reported from Minneapolis, and Balsamo and Durkin Richer reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Michael Biesecker in Washington; Jim Mustian in New York; Sophia Tareen in Chicago and Makiya Seminera in Raleigh, N.C., contributed.
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'The U.S. government's recent actions have naturally shaken their confidence in the United States.' Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
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Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Here's what we know about the suspect. Advertisement Does he have a connection to the victims? Boelter had served on a state economic board with one of the victims, state Senator John Hoffman, who survived the shooting, though it is unclear if they actually knew each other. Boelter was appointed to the panel, the Minnesota Governor's Workforce Development Board, in 2016 by a Democratic former governor, Mark Dayton. The board has 41 members appointed by the governor, and its members try to improve business development in the state. He was later reappointed by Gov. Tim Walz, also a Democrat. Boelter and Hoffman attended a virtual meeting together in 2022 for a discussion about the job market in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, minutes from the meeting show, though officials said they did not know if the two had any kind of relationship. 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He said that he knew that Boelter owned guns but that he had never heard him speak about either of the two lawmakers who were shot. Recently, he said, Boelter had been experiencing financial and mental health challenges. He 'just gave up on life for some reason,' he said. Carlson read aloud a text message from Boelter that he received Saturday morning in which Boelter wrote that he might 'be dead shortly.' The message did not describe any details of the attacks, Carlson said. It went on: '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 all the trouble this has caused.' Advertisement Carlson said that Friday, Boelter gave him four months' worth of advance rent payments -- about $220 a month -- for a small room in the shared house. Boelter also thanked his roommates for their friendship and then said that he needed some rest, Carlson said, so he left him alone. Boelter's lack of a party affiliation on public documents does not necessarily mean that he is not interested in the country's political affairs. In November 2018, Boelter urged his followers on LinkedIn to vote in that year's election, saying he had been to countries where people could not elect their leaders and that they were 'not places that anyone of us would want to live in.' 'I think the election is going to have more of an impact on the direction of our country than probably any election we have been apart of, or will be apart of for years to come,' he wrote. The lawmaker who was killed Saturday, state Rep. Melissa Hortman, ran successfully for reelection that year. He worked in the funeral industry and preached in central Africa Boelter's professional history is varied. In one video he posted online, seemingly for an educational course, Boelter said he worked six days a week for two funeral service companies in the Minneapolis area. At one of the companies, he said, he sometimes helped to remove bodies from crime scenes and would work with police officers and death investigators. A spokesperson for Des Moines Area Community College in Iowa said Boelter took classes in the school's mortuary science program, which is primarily an online program, in 2023 and 2024. Advertisement State reports and his LinkedIn profile indicate that he had also been the general manager of a 7-Eleven in Minneapolis and, before that, general manager of a gas station in St. Paul. A report in 2017 listed him as an executive at an energy company. More recently, he said on LinkedIn that he was CEO of a company called Red Lion Group, which is in Congo and whose website lists a vague mission of creating 'good jobs for local people.' Boelter has delivered several sermons at a church in that country. In the sermons, which were posted online, he said he gave his life to Jesus as a teenager and had been blessed with five children. In one, he said he had been friends with David Emerson, a missionary who was murdered in Zimbabwe in 1987 along with 10 others. In another sermon, he appeared to criticize gay and transgender people. 'There's people, especially in America, they don't know what sex they are,' he said. 'They don't know their sexual orientation, they're confused. The enemy has gotten so far into their mind and their soul.' Boelter and his wife, Jenny, were listed on a website as running a private security company, though it was not clear whether it had any clients. The company, Praetorian Guard Security Services, lists Boelter as the director of security patrols and his wife as president. Jenny Boelter was stopped Saturday morning by police officers near a convenience store in Onamia, Minnesota, roughly 70 miles north of the area of the shootings, according to Sheriff Kyle Burton of Mille Lacs County. The sheriff said other relatives were in the car, and a witness said he saw three children get out of the car during the stop. All were cooperative, and none was taken into custody, officials said. Advertisement The firm's website describes using Ford Explorer SUVs, 'the same make and model of vehicles that many police departments use.' On Saturday afternoon, police towed a Ford Explorer from outside Hortman's home. The website for Boelter's security company makes expansive claims about his work experience that could not immediately be verified, including that he had been 'involved with security situations' in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Federal tax forms show that Boelter and his wife once led a Christian nonprofit called Revoformation Ministries. An archived version of the group's website described Boelter as becoming an ordained minister in 1993. Boelter, the site said, had traveled to violent areas and had 'sought out militant Islamists in order to share the Gospel and tell them that violence wasn't the answer.' Boelter made similar claims during one of his sermons in Congo, saying he had been confronted by armed militants while distributing pamphlets in places like the West Bank, Gaza and Lebanon. How was the attack carried out? Authorities say the assassin disguised himself as a police officer -- wearing a ballistic vest, gloves and a mask -- before going to the lawmakers' homes in two Minneapolis suburbs early Saturday. After police responded to Hoffman's home, finding that he and his wife, Yvette, had both been shot, they decided to check on Hortman at home. There, they encountered the assailant, who they said fled on foot after an exchange of gunfire with officers around 3:30 a.m. Inside, police found Hortman and her husband, Mark, dead. Advertisement U.S. Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., said in an interview that the gunman had a notebook with a list of names that included hers and those of other lawmakers, all of whom were Democrats. The list included about 70 potential targets, a federal law enforcement official said, including doctors, community and business leaders, and locations for Planned Parenthood and other health care centers. Some of the targets were in neighboring states. A search led police Sunday afternoon to Sibley County, a rural community southwest of Minneapolis, where they found what they believed was Boelter's vehicle near Green Isle -- roughly 10 minutes from his listed address. Officials said late Sunday that Boelter had been taken into custody. This article originally appeared in
