US police arrest suspect Vance Boelter for Minnesota lawmakers’ shooting
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State officials had pursued the suspect, identified as Vance Boelter, throughout the weekend.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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MINNEAPOLIS – A massive two-day manhunt ended on June 15 with the arrest of Vance Boelter, 57, for allegedly killing a Minnesota Democratic state lawmaker and her husband while posing as a police officer, Governor Tim Walz said.
Boelter allegedly shot dead Mrs Melissa Hortman, the top Democrat in the Minnesota House, and her husband, Mark, in their home on June 14 - a crime Mr Walz characterised as a “politically motivated assassination”.
Authorities said Boelter also allegedly shot and wounded another Democratic lawmaker, state Senator John Hoffman, and his wife Yvette at their home a few miles away.
“After a two-day manhunt, two sleepless nights, law enforcement have apprehended Vance Boelter,” Mr Walz told a news conference. “One man’s unthinkable actions have altered the state of Minnesota.
“A moment in this country where we watch violence erupt, this cannot be the norm. It cannot be the way that we deal with our political differences. Now is the time for us to recommit to the core values of this country, and each and every one of us can do it.”
Mr Walz said Mr Hoffman, who had been hit with nine bullets, came out of his final surgery and was moving towards recovery.
Boelter has links to evangelical ministries and claimed to be a security expert with experience in the Gaza Strip and Africa, according to online postings and public records reviewed by Reuters.
Boelter was charged with two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree attempted murder, the criminal complaint showed.
Three of those charges are punishable with jail terms of up to 40 years, according to the complaint unsealed on June 15.
Boelter had been impersonating a police officer while carrying out the shootings, wearing an officer’s uniform and driving a Ford SUV with police-style lights, according to a Hennepin County criminal complaint unsealed on June 15.
Boelter fled on foot early on June 14 when officers confronted him at Mrs Hortman’s Brooklyn Park home, said authorities who had warned residents to stay indoors for their own safety and unleashed the state’s biggest manhunt.
When police searched Boelter’s SUV after the shootings they discovered three AK-47 assault rifles, a 9-mm handgun, and a list of other public officials including their addresses, the criminal complaint showed.
Working on a tip that Boelter was near his home in the city of Green Isle, more than 20 Swat teams combed the area, aided by surveillance aircraft, officials said. Boelter was armed but surrendered with no shots fired.
“The suspect crawled to law enforcement teams and was placed under arrest,” Lieutenant Colonel Jeremy Geiger of the Minnesota State Patrol told the briefing. “The suspect was taken into custody without any use of force.”
The operation to capture Boelter, drawing on the work of hundreds of detectives and a wide range of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, was the largest manhunt in state history, Brooklyn Park police Chief Mark Bruley said.
“Now begins the hard work of looking at what the motive is,” Chief Bruley said.
The killing was the latest in a series of high-profile episodes of US political violence, including an attack on former Democratic US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband at their home in 2022, an attempted assassination of Mr Donald Trump during 2024’s presidential campaign, and an arson attack at Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s house in April.
Gunman posed as officer
Mr Damon Voight, who lives down the road from Boelter’s house in a rural area of Green Isle, said his wife was afraid with the suspect on the loose.
“My wife is freaked out,” he added. “She’s like, ‘We’ve got guns in the house, right?’”
The city of Champlin, home to the Hoffmans, said it shut down its annual Father Hennepin festival for the weekend, which included live music and a carnival.
Outside the state capitol in St Paul, a small memorial had taken shape, with flowers, American flags and handwritten messages. “Justice for Melissa,” read one note, with a drawing of a heart.
Ms Klobuchar said she had seen both Mrs Hortman and Mr Hoffman at a political dinner on June 13, just hours before they were shot.
“We started out together in politics, mums with young kids, and somehow she was able to balance getting to know every door, knock on every house in her district, while raising two children – Girl Scout leader, she taught Sunday school,” the US senator said of Mrs Hortman, 55.
The attacks started at around 2am (3pm, Singapore time) on June 14, when authorities said the gunman shot the Hoffmans in their home before driving several kilometres to Mrs Hortman’s home in neighbouring Brooklyn Park.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation released photos of the suspect wearing a rubber mask and a police-like uniform. REUTERS
