The man suspected of killing a Minnesota lawmaker and wounding another crawled to officers in surrender on Sunday after they located him in the woods near his home, bringing an end to a massive, nearly two-day search that put the entire state on edge.
Vance Boelter was arrested and charged with two counts of murder and two of attempted murder. He is accused of posing as a police officer and fatally shooting former Democratic Minnesota state representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in their home early on Saturday in the northern Minneapolis suburbs.
“One man’s unthinkable actions have altered the state of Minnesota,” Governor Tim Walz said at a news conference after Boelter’s arrest.
Photo: Reuters / Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office via FacebookPhoto: Reuters / Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office via Facebook
Boelter, 57, was captured in Sibley County, a rural area about an hour southwest of the Minneapolis suburbs where the murders had occurred, police and state officials said.
Police described the search as the “largest manhunt in [the state’s] history,” with 20 SWAT teams and several agencies working to find him.
Minnesota State Patrol Assistant Chief Jeremy Geiger told reporters that Boelter had been “taken into custody without the use of force.”
Photo: Reuters
Before the murders, Boelter also allegedly attacked two others nearby — state Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, who survived and were treated for serious injuries, authorities said.
“The latest news is Senator Hoffman came out of his final surgery and is moving toward recovery,” Walz told reporters.
Hoffman was shot nine times and Yvette eight times, US Senator Amy Klobuchar said.
A notebook containing the names of other lawmakers and potential targets was found inside a car left by Boelter at the Hortmans’ home, which Drew Evans, head of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said earlier on Sunday was not a “traditional manifesto.”
“I am concerned about all our political leaders, political organizations,” Klobuchar said on Sunday.
“It was politically motivated, and there clearly was some throughline with abortion because of the groups that were on the list, and other things that I’ve heard were in this manifesto. So that was one of his motivations,” she said.
As speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2019 to January this year, Hortman was committed to legislation that protected reproductive rights in the state, local media reported.
Trump has condemned the attacks in Minnesota on the lawmakers and their spouses.
The president was asked in a Sunday interview with ABC News if he planned to call Walz, who was Kamala Harris’ running mate in the election Trump won last year.
“Well, it’s a terrible thing. I think he’s a terrible governor. I think he’s a grossly incompetent person,” Trump said.
“But I may, I may call him, I may call other people, too,” he said.
Authorities did not give a motive as they announced Boelter’s arrest.
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.
At about 6am on Saturday, Boelter texted friends to apologize for his actions, though he did not 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,” he wrote in messages viewed by the 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.
“This cannot be the norm. It cannot be the way that we deal with our political differences,” Walz said.
Brightly colored flowers and small American flags were placed on 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. An emotional Stein called Hortman an “absolute powerhouse” and “the real unsung hero of Minnesota government.”
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