A massive search continued Saturday for a 57-year-old Minnesota man, hours after an early-morning attack that left a Democratic Minnesota lawmaker and her husband dead and a second Democratic lawmaker and his wife injured in separate “politically motivated” shootings, authorities said.
The suspected gunman has been identified as Vance Boelter, according to three people familiar with the investigation, and is believed to have impersonated law enforcement and worn a badge to gain access to the legislators’ homes.
Gov. Tim Walz said at a news conference that the shooting appeared to be “a politically motivated assassination.” He identified the slain lawmaker as state Rep. Melissa Hortman of Brooklyn Park and her husband, Mark. State Sen. John Hoffman of Champlin and his wife, Yvette, were severely injured.
The lawmakers were on a list found in the suspect’s car that included other potential political targets, authorities said, prompting law enforcement to offer extra security to state officials on a day when political demonstrations were being held across the state and nation.
The Hoffmans remain hospitalized and their conditions were not immediately available. Both lawmakers were members of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party and their respective homes are located about 8 miles apart, in the suburbs north of Minneapolis.
The Brooklyn Park Police Department issued a shelter-in-place alert Saturday morning for an area surrounding the Edinburgh Golf Course in its quest for a suspect, NBC affiliate KARE 11 reported.
“This was an act of targeted political violence,” Walz said. “Peaceful discourse is the foundation of our democracy. We don’t settle our differences with violence or at gunpoint.”
Hortman, 55, a former state House speaker, was a DFL leader who co-authored several pieces of legislation this session, including a constitutional amendment guaranteeing equal rights under the law to all individuals and a bill condemning Trump’s pardons of violent Jan. 6 offenders.
Hoffman is the chief author of an omnibus bill this session that touched on issues such as aging and older adult services.
Upon responding at 3:35 a.m., Brooklyn Park police officers encountered an individual who “immediately fired at them,” said Drew Evans, the superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. They exchanged gunfire before the suspect fled out of the back of the house, authorities said.
The suspect may have been wearing a long-sleeve blue shirt similar to a police uniform with a vest, a senior law enforcement official told NBC News.
Bruley said they located the suspect’s vehicle, which had lights and sirens as if it were a police squad car, and found a “manifesto” inside with the names of other lawmakers and officials. Law enforcement agencies in Minnesota were at locations of those individuals to provide security and protection while the investigation into any potential list is ongoing, according to a senior law enforcement official.
“We have people of interest that we are looking for,” Bruley said.
President Donald Trump said Saturday morning that he was briefed on the shooting and that Attorney General Pam Bondi and the FBI are assisting in the investigation.
“They will be prosecuting anyone involved to the fullest extent of the law,” Trump said in a statement. “Such horrific violence will not be tolerated in the United States of America.”
In a social media post, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., called the shootings “a stunning act of violence.”
“I’m thankful for all the law enforcement who are responding in real time,” she wrote on X. “My prayers are with the Hortman and Hoffman families. Both legislators are close friends and devoted to their families and public service.”
Former Arizona Rep. Gabby Giffords, a shooting survivor who now advocates for gun safety, said she was “horrified and heartbroken” by the latest violence against lawmakers.
“An attack against lawmakers is an attack on American democracy itself,” she said in a statement. “Leaders must speak out and condemn the fomenting violent extremism that threatens everything this country stands for.”
The shootings came on the same day as sweeping rallies were planned nationwide, including in Minnesota, in opposition to Trump and organized under the slogan “No Kings.” In the evening, a major parade is also being held in Washington, D.C., in honor of the Army’s 250th birthday, coinciding with Trump’s birthday.
The “No Kings” event in northeast Minnesota was canceled, and Minnesota State Patrol asked people to stay away from public demonstrations while a suspect is on the loose.
The state patrol shared a photo on X of fliers it said were found inside the suspect’s vehicle with the writing “No Kings.”
“Given the targeted shootings of state lawmakers overnight, we are asking the public to not attend today’s planned demonstrations across Minnesota out of an abundance of caution,” the state patrol said.
