Who is Vance Boelter, the suspect in Minnesota politician shootings?

The 57-year-old worked in security and as a pastor. A list found in his car included prominent abortion-rights supporters in Minnesota, according to an official.

FBI agents search for the shooter on Saturday. Picture: Alex Kormann/AP

The suspect in the shooting of Minnesota politicians on Saturday was feeling down and unhappy with his work situation, but showed no signs that he could turn violent, his self-described best friend and part-time roommate said.

Police identified the man, who remained at large Saturday, as 57-year-old Vance Luther Boelter. Authorities said he impersonated a police officer to gain access to the suburban Minneapolis home of state Rep. Melissa Hortman, a 55-year-old Democratic leader and former speaker of the Minnesota House. She and her husband, Mark, were fatally shot.

Boelter is also a suspect in the shooting of state Sen. John Hoffman, 60, and his wife, Yvette, in their home in a suburb further north.

Boelter had built a scattered career that included food companies, retailing and pastoring, public records and his online posts show. He has been living with his wife in a rural area outside the Twin Cities, and then staying a few nights a week at a rental home in a working-class Minneapolis neighbourhood with a couple of roommates.

Boelter was working overnight shifts for an organisation that handles eye donations, said one roommate, David Carlson, and was trying to get a security firm off the ground.

On Friday night, Boelter parked his prowler-style vehicle from his security business at the house and went to his room, Carlson recalled. Carlson knocked on the door but Boelter said he was tired, so Carlson left him alone, reasoning that he was sometimes on call for the eye-donation firm and might have to be up in the middle of the night.

The FBI is offering a reward of up to $US50,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Vance Luther Boelter. Picture: FBI/WSJ

Carlson woke Saturday to a troubling text. Boelter said he was “going to be gone for a while” and “may be dead shortly,” according to local media reports, which Carlson confirmed. The text prompted him to call the police.

“I thought he was going to do self-harm,” Carlson said. “I didn’t think he was going to do anything like this.”

Carlson said Boelter voted for President Trump and was against abortion, considering it murder. But Carlson never thought his views were especially out of the mainstream.

Trying to identify Boelter’s political leanings is challenging, based on available public records. People don’t declare a party when they register to vote in Minnesota.

Authorities said they found a list in the suspect’s vehicle that included other public officials. The suspect’s possible target list named prominent abortion-rights supporters in Minnesota, including Democratic politicians who have been outspoken on the issue, according to an official familiar with the document.

David Carlson, a roommate of Vance Luther Boelter. Picture: Joe Barrett/WSJ

Online posts paint a picture of Boelter as a devout Christian and pastor, who preached at LaBorne Matadi, a church in the Congo, according to photos on the church’s Facebook page. An archived website for his ministry described his global travels to preach, stating, “He sought out militant Islamists in order to share the gospel and tell them that violence wasn’t the answer.”

He quit most of his jobs before his last trip to Africa and was struggling to build back a solid income, Carlson said.

A website for Praetorian Guard Security Services lists Boelter as part of the leadership and advertises armed residential security and personnel who drive police-style vehicles.

“We drive the same make and model of vehicles that many police departments use in the US. Currently we drive Ford Explorer Utility Vehicles,” the site says.

Law enforcement said a black police cruiser was seen at the politicians’ homes. Nobody answered the company’s phone line Saturday.

Vance Luther Boelter speaks at LaBorne Matadi church in the Congo.

A checkpoint in Green Isle, Minn., where he also lived. Only local residents and law enforcement were allowed into the area Saturday. Picture: Joe Barrett/WSJ

State records confirm Boelter’s past appointments to the Governor’s Workforce Development Board, first by former Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton and then by current Democratic Gov. Tim Walz.

Governors appoint thousands of people of all parties to boards and commissions created by the legislature for unpaid roles.

This particular board has about 60 people, including Republican and Democratic representatives from business, education, unions and community groups. Boelter is listed as “no party preference” on his board profile. Walz’s office said it had no familiarity with the suspect.

On Saturday, authorities descending on Boelter’s Minneapolis home broke down doors and smashed windows. Police set up checkpoints to cordon off a large area surrounding his other residence in rural Green Isle, (population 663), about an hour west of the Twin Cities. A helicopter buzzed overhead and a TV crew reported from a gravel road.

Police descended on the Minneapolis home where Vance Luther Boelter lived part-time. Picture: Tim Evans/Reuters/WSJ

A vehicle allegedly belonging to him is towed from an alley behind his home on Saturday. Picture: Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

According to the defunct website for his ministry, Boelter was raised in the small Minnesota town of Sleepy Eye, studied at a bible college in Dallas and holds a master’s degree in management.

Posts from Boelter’s LinkedIn account show that he travelled regularly to Congo. He and his wife, Jenny, have five children, according to a recorded 2021 sermon in which he says, “I met Jesus when I was 17 years old, and I gave my life to him.”

The sermon was posted on the church’s YouTube channel. Boelter’s wife didn’t respond to phone messages on Saturday.

Melissa Hortman and husband Mark at the annual Humphrey-Mondale Dinner in Minneapolis. Picture: Minnesota House DFL Caucus/Reuters/WSJ

State Senator John Hoffman at a Minnesota Senate Human Services Committee hearing last year. Picture: Glen Stubbe/Zuma Press/WSJ

Boelter also preached about the hardships he faced after a friend was allegedly murdered alongside other Christian missionaries in Africa.

“If those people that killed them, if they had known Jesus, they would not have done that,” he said during one sermon. The experience brought him closer to God and inspired him to start his own ministry, he said. It is called Revoformation Ministries, according to state public records.

Boelter’s bio on the website for Praetorian Guard Security Services portrays him as having vast security experience: “Dr. Vance Boelter has been involved with security situations in Eastern Europe, Africa, North America and the Middle East, including the West Bank, Southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.”

Boelter and his wife also operated a dog business, Praetorian Shilohs, a Shiloh Shepherd breeding enterprise. According to its website, the couple ventured into the business after years seeking “the best breed of Shepherds in the world.” The site indicated litters were anticipated in early spring and winter.

Authorities said they were still exploring whether Boelter was acquainted with the politicians targeted on Saturday. They said there was “some overlap with public meetings” with Hoffman, but we don’t know the nature of the relationship or if they actually knew each other.” Hoffman is on the Governor’s Workforce Development Board, according to a roster.

“I don’t know what his beef was with these two people, but he never talked about them,” Carlson said. “I don’t even know who they were.”

The Wall Street Journal