Vance Luther Boelter, suspected of shooting two state Democratic lawmakers, arrested in rural Minnesota
Vance Luther Boelter, suspected of shooting two state Democratic lawmakers, has been captured after authorities tracked him into the woods in rural Minnesota.
A man suspected of shooting two state Democratic lawmakers was arrested late Sunday after authorities tracked him into the woods in rural Minnesota, law-enforcement officials said.
The capture of 57-year-old Vance Luther Boelter ends a two-day manhunt that left the community on edge. He was wanted by police in connection with the killings of state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband and the shootings of Sen. John Hoffman and his wife.
The Democratic politicians were shot early Saturday morning in what Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz called an act of “targeted political violence.” Boelter is believed to have posed as a police officer to gain access to Hortman’s Brooklyn Park home, according to law-enforcement officials. The 55-year-old lawmaker and her husband, Mark, were fatally shot there early Saturday.
Law enforcement officers searched properties on Sunday in Sibley County after a vehicle that may have been used by the suspect was found along a local highway, according to the sheriff’s office. Residents were told to keep their doors locked and vehicles secure. Boelter lives in the county, southwest of where the shootings unfolded.
Authorities earlier said they found a list in the suspect’s vehicle that named other public officials. It had dozens of names, including prominent individuals who support abortion rights in Minnesota, as well many Democratic lawmakers, and also abortion providers, according to an official who has seen the document.
The shootings were “politically motivated, and there clearly was some throughline with abortion because of the groups that were on the list,” said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat of Minnesota, on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday morning.
Klobuchar, the senior senator from Minnesota, is mentioned in the suspect’s writings, according to a person with knowledge of a briefing on the subject.
The senator said she was with Hortman and her husband at a “big political dinner” the night before the killings. “That was the last time so many of us saw Melissa and Mark.” She said Walz, a Democrat, called her at 5am Saturday to tell her about Hortman’s death.
Klobuchar said Hoffman and his wife “are hanging in there.” She later shared a message from Yvette Hoffman, who said she and her husband were “incredibly lucky to be alive” after being shot multiple times.
On Sunday morning, Hortman’s home in Brooklyn Park was surrounded by yellow police tape. Plywood covered the front door and several windows. A police cruiser and several media teams were parked across the street.
Alka Dabade, a retiree who lives about one hole away on the golf course behind the Hortman home, walked about half a mile to see the house.
“It’s shocking,” she said, noting that she and her husband had lived in the area since 1993 and consider it very safe. The couple got an alert from the police to shelter in place on Saturday around 5.30am They weren’t allowed to leave until 3.30pm, she said.
Records show that Boelter lived with his family in a house in rural Green Isle, Minn., about an hour’s drive from Hortman’s home. He stayed a few nights a week at a rental home in Minneapolis with roommates.
One of his roommates, David Carlson, said Boelter was working overnight shifts for an organization that handles eye donations while trying to get a private security company off the ground. Boelter has also served as a Christian preacher, including at a church in the Congo.
On Saturday, Carlson said he woke to a text from Boelter saying he was “going to be gone for a while” and “may be dead shortly.” Carlson said he called the police.
Boelter had voted for President Trump and was against abortion, Carlson said. Police responded to the shootings around 2am Saturday. Police were called first to Hoffman’s home. Officers then went to check on Hortman’s home around 3.35am and spotted the suspect emerging from her house, said Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley. The suspect was dressed as a police officer and there was an SUV in the driveway with emergency lights on, according to Bruley. The suspect, who wore a badge and police gear, retreated into the house and escaped on foot out the back, he said.
Political figures from across the spectrum condemned the shootings, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) asked that lawmakers be given a briefing on security once they return from a recess. “The level of threat that lawmakers are exposed to is just unacceptable,” said Sen. Tina Smith (D., Minn.)
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