Suspect in Minnesota lawmaker killing visited other legislators’ homes, prosecutors say

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota - The suspect accused of assassinating a Minnesota lawmaker and shooting another this weekend drove to the homes of at least four state politicians as part of a carefully planned attack, federal authorities said on June 16.

Vance Boelter, 57, faces state and federal charges of murder after he was arrested on the night of June 15 following a massive two-day manhunt that was the largest in state history.

He is accused of fatally shooting Ms Melissa Hortman, the top Democrat in the Minnesota House, and her husband, Mark, in their home on June 14. Boelter is also charged with shooting and wounding another Democratic lawmaker, state Senator John Hoffman, and his wife Yvette, in their home a few kilometres away.

Prosecutors said Boelter visited the homes of two other lawmakers on June 14 disguised as a police officer, looking for more victims on his target list. Investigators have recovered notebooks from his car and residence that detailed some of his planning and included the names of dozens of legislators, mostly or all Democrats, along with abortion rights advocates.

“Political assassinations are rare,” Mr Joseph Thompson, Minnesota’s acting US attorney, said at a news conference on June 16. “They strike at the very core of our democracy.”

While he characterised the shootings as politically motivated, Mr Thompson said a precise motive was not yet clear. Contrary to some earlier news reports, authorities have not discovered a “Unabomber-style manifesto,” Mr Thompson said.

Boelter was expected to appear remotely in Hennepin County court on June 16 to face second-degree murder and attempted murder charges. The county’s chief prosecutor, Mary Moriarty, said on June 16 she will seek first-degree murder charges, which carry a mandatory sentence of life without parole.

Federal prosecutors separately charged Boelter with an array of crimes, including murder, which could lead to a death sentence. He will appear in federal court in St Paul on June 16.

The Minnesota attacks began around 2am on June 14, when a gunman wearing a police-style tactical vest and a “hyper realistic silicone mask” knocked on the Hoffmans’ door in Champlin, announced himself as a police officer and then shot the couple multiple times inside, according to prosecutors.

He was driving an SUV outfitted with police-style lights and a fake license plate that read “POLICE.”

Boelter then travelled to the home of another state lawmaker in Maple Grove, where he rang the doorbell at 2.24am, Mr Thompson said. The official, whom prosecutors did not name, was not home.

Boelter also visited the home of a state senator in New Hope, prosecutors said. A officer dispatched to the house to conduct a wellness check after police learned of the Hoffman shooting believed Boelter, who was parked outside, was another police officer and pulled up next to him.

“He just sat there and stared straight ahead,” Mr Thompson said of Boelter. The responding officer went to the door to wait for additional officers, and Boelter had left by the time they arrived, prosecutors said.

Shortly after, police went to the Hortmans’ house in Brooklyn Park as a precaution. The arriving officers saw the suspect shoot Mr Mark Hortman through an open door around 3.35am and exchanged fire with him before he fled on foot out the back door, according to prosecutors.

Mrs Melissa Hortman was already dead inside.

When police searched Boelter’s SUV after the shootings, they discovered three AK-47 assault rifles, a 9-mm handgun, a gold police-style badge and the target list, according to authorities.

Attack planned for a long time

Notebooks recovered from Boelter’s car, as well as the home where he had been staying, showed he had planned the attacks for some time, prosecutors said.

He had the names and, in some cases, home addresses for more than 45 elected officials, “mostly or all Democrats,” according to an FBI affidavit.

In one book, Boelter noted that the Hortmans had two children and included surveillance details about their house, writing, “Big house off golf course 2 ways in to watch from one spot,” the affidavit said.

Hours after the shootings, Boelter’s wife and other family members received a text message at 6.18am that read, “Dad went to war last night... I don’t wanna say more because I don’t wanna implicate anybody,” according to the affidavit. A second text warned his family to leave the house because some “armed and trigger-happy” people would be arriving.

In addition to her phone, Boelter’s wife consented to a search of her car, which turned up two handguns, about US$10,000 (S$12,804) in cash and passports for family members, who were in the car when police came to the house, according to the affidavit.

Authorities said the investigation would determine if Boelter’s wife had any role in or was aware of the suspect’s plan beforehand. He has five children, according to media reports.

Massive manhunt

Around 7am on June 14, Boelter encountered someone at a bus stop in Minneapolis and eventually offered to buy his Buick with cash, according to prosecutors.

Investigators on June 15 found the Buick in rural Sibley County, near his listed home address about an hour’s drive south-west of Minneapolis. Inside the car, officers found a handwritten letter to the FBI, in which Boelter gave his name and admitted to the shootings, according to the affidavit.

More than 20 SWAT teams combed the area, aided by surveillance aircraft, officials said. Boelter, who was armed, crawled from a wooded area and surrendered peacefully to police in a field.

The killing was the latest in a series of high-profile episodes of political violence across the country, including a 2022 attack on former Democratic US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband at their home, the

attempted assassination of Donald Trump

in 2024 and an arson attack at Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s house in April.

Ms Klobuchar shared on social media a text message from Mrs Yvette Hoffman on the evening of June 15 that said her husband, John, was “enduring many surgeries right now.” He was shot nine times, and she was shot eight times, the message said.

“We are both incredibly lucky to be alive,” she wrote. “We are gutted and devastated by the loss of Melissa and Mark.”  REUTERS