The man who is thought to have killed one lawmaker and hurt another has been caught, ending a huge search that took almost two days and made the whole state nervous.
Vance Boelter was caught on Sunday night. Melissa Hortman, who used to be Speaker of the Democratic House, and her husband Mark were killed in their home in Brooklyn Park early Saturday morning in the northern Minneapolis suburbs. Sen. John Hoffman, a Democrat, and his wife Yvette were hurt at their home in Champlin, which is about 9 miles (15 km) away.
At a news conference, Gov. Tim Walz said, “One man’s sick actions have changed the state of Minnesota.”
Boelter was caught in the country in Sibley County, which is southwest of Minneapolis.
“He was finally caught in a field,” said Drew Evans, who is in charge of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
He said that the police think Boelter did it by himself.
A police report that was made public on Sunday night says that Boelter, 57, is charged with two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder in connection with the deaths of the Hortmans and the injuries to Hoffman and his wife.
First, someone broke into the Hoffmans’ home in Champin early Saturday morning. When police in nearby Brooklyn Park heard about the killing, they sent patrol officers to the Hortmans’ house to check on them.
The cops in Brooklyn Park got there just in time to see Boelter shoot Mark Hortman through the open door of the house, per the complaint. It says that they fired at Boelter, who ran into the house and then left the scene of the crime.
The lawsuit says that the Hoffmans’ adult daughter called the police about the shooting at their home.
Largest search for a criminal in the history of the state
Chief of Police for Brooklyn Park, Mark Bruley, said that 20 different SWAT teams were used to look for the suspect.
He said, “There’s no doubt that this is the biggest manhunt in the history of the state.”
Earlier, Drew Evans, director of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said that police found a car early Sunday morning that they thought Boelter was using. The car was found in the farmland a few miles west of Green Isle, which is about an hour’s drive west of Minneapolis. He also said that evidence important to the case was found in the car, but he didn’t say what it was.
Authorities said Boelter was a suspect because he wore a mask and pretended to be a police officer. They also said he changed a car to look like a police car.
Evens stated that police found a cowboy hat next to the car and think it belonged to Boelter. The superintendent also said that Boelter’s wife and other family members were questioned by police about the killings on Saturday. He said they were willing to help and were not in jail.
More than 100 police officers, including SWAT teams, checked the area, Evans said. They also looked in nearby homes.
The first search took place in rural Sibley County, which is about 50 miles (80 km) southwest of Minneapolis and is where Boelter lived with his wife and five children. People in the area got a message about the found vehicle in an emergency, telling them to lock their doors and cars.
There are deep political divides at the moment, and political leaders across the country have been attacked, harassed, and scared. As people in the Twin Cities mourned, lawmakers said they were disturbed by the killings.
Some bright flowers, small American flags, and a picture of the Hortmans were put on the gray marbled stone of the Minnesota State Capitol on Sunday. On small notes, people wrote things like, “You were our leader through the hardest times.” “Rest in Power.”
Pam Stein came with flowers and got down on her knees next to the grave. Stein was moved to tears as she called Hortman a “absolute powerhouse” and “the real unsung hero of Minnesota government.”
No information on the reason
The police haven’t said anything about a motivation yet.
The fake police car that was left at the crime scene had writing on it that included a list of about 70 people, according to the police. Officials say that the writings and list of names included well-known state and federal politicians, community leaders, people who support abortion rights, and information about health care facilities.
Evans made it clear that the papers were not a political or intellectual treatise, even though he called them a “manifesto” on Saturday. He said it was more like a notebook with different ideas and names of lawmakers and other people written in it. He refused to give more information.
One person in charge in Minnesota told the AP that the list included politicians who had spoken out in favor of abortion rights. Because the probe was still going on, the official spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Other state lawmakers were warned about the threats, and some planned “No Kings” protests against President Donald Trump had to be canceled. However, some did happen anyway, and one drew tens of thousands of people to the State Capitol in St. Paul. The man was said to have had flyers that said “No Kings” in his car.
Boelter was appointed by the government and worked on the same state workforce development board as Hoffman, according to records. It was not clear if or how well they knew each other, though.
Around 6 a.m. on Saturday, Boelter texted his friends to say he was sorry for what he had done, but he didn’t say what he had done.
“I’ll be away for a while.” “May be dead soon, so I just want to tell you both that I love you and wish things hadn’t turned out this way,” he wrote in texts that AP saw.
Two Democrats were selected.
On Sunday night, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar shared a message from Yvette Hoffman in which she thanked everyone for their support.
In a text message that Klobuchar shared on social media, Yvette Hoffman wrote, “John is having many surgeries right now and is getting closer every hour to being out of the woods.” “Nine bullets hit him.” I took eight, and you and I are both very lucky to be alive. Our hearts are broken over the deaths of Melissa and Mark.
On Sunday, Gov. Tim Walz talked about Hortman on social media, calling him “the most important Speaker in state history.”
Hortman, who is 55 years old, had been the state House’s top Democrat boss since 2017. To get more power over Republicans, she led Democrats in a three-week walkout at the start of this year’s session. As part of a deal to share power, she gave the gavel to Republican Rep. Lisa Demuth and became speaker emerita.
Hortman used her power as speaker in 2023 to push for stronger protections for abortion rights. For example, she pushed for legislation to make Minnesota a safer place for people from states with strict abortion laws to go to get an abortion, and to protect the doctors who help them.
They had a son and a daughter who were both adults.
Hoffman, who is 60 years old, was first voted in 2012 and was in charge of one of the most important parts of the state budget as chair of the Senate Human Services Committee. He and his wife have one daughter who is an adult.
Balsamo and Durkin Richer was in Washington, D.C., and Karnowski was in Minneapolis. Michael Biesecker in Washington, D.C.; Jim Mustian in New York; Sophia Tareen in Chicago; and Makiya Seminera in Raleigh, N.C. all wrote for the Associated Press.
