MINNEAPOLIS — The man suspected of killing former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and wounding Democratic State Sen. John Hoffman was taken into custody early Monday after surrendering to police officers in a wooded area near his home, concluding a massive, nearly two-day manhunt that gripped the state in fear.
Authorities identified the suspect as Vance Boelter, who now faces two counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder. Officials say Boelter impersonated a police officer before launching coordinated attacks on the homes of both lawmakers, killing Hortman and her husband, Mark, and critically wounding Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, in a separate shooting.
Police said the shootings were premeditated and politically targeted, though a motive has yet to be formally established.
“This was the largest manhunt in the state’s history,” Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley said Sunday. The search began early Saturday after police responding to the Hortmans’ Brooklyn Park residence witnessed Mark Hortman being shot through an open door before the suspect fled.
The trail led to Sibley County, a rural area west of Minneapolis, where officers discovered Boelter’s abandoned vehicle. A perimeter was set up, and tactical teams from more than 20 law enforcement agencies fanned out through the dense woods. After hours of tracking him with helicopters and ground units, Boelter reportedly crawled out of the underbrush to surrender without resistance.
He was booked into the Hennepin County Jail at 1:02 a.m. Monday, wearing an orange prison shirt in booking photos released later.
Officials say Boelter posed as a police officer, modifying a vehicle to resemble a patrol car before carrying out the shootings. According to an unsealed criminal complaint, the violence began at the Hoffman residence in Champlin early Saturday morning. The couple’s adult daughter called 911 just after 2 a.m., saying her parents had been shot by a masked gunman at the door.
Soon after, Brooklyn Park officers were dispatched to check on the Hortmans and arrived just in time to witness the fatal shooting of Mark Hortman. A gunfight ensued, but Boelter escaped. Melissa Hortman was found dead inside the home.
Drew Evans, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said Boelter’s plans appeared far-reaching and could have resulted in more deaths had police not intervened when they did. “This individual had a list,” he said.
Two law enforcement officials, speaking anonymously to the Associated Press, said writings recovered from the fake police vehicle included a hit list of approximately 70 names, including federal and state lawmakers, abortion rights advocates, community leaders, and healthcare professionals.
A Minnesota official told AP that several legislators who had publicly supported abortion rights were on that list, although it is unclear if the attacks were ideologically motivated.
Boelter, a former political appointee, had previously served on a state workforce development board with Hoffman, though investigators have not clarified the nature of their relationship. Hours after the attacks, Boelter sent cryptic text messages to friends: “I may be dead shortly… I wish it hadn’t gone this way,” he wrote.
Governor Tim Walz, in an emotional press briefing, described the killings as a turning point. “One man’s unthinkable actions have altered the state of Minnesota,” Walz said. “This cannot be the norm. It cannot be the way that we deal with our political differences.”
As the Twin Cities region mourned, makeshift memorials were erected outside the Minnesota State Capitol, where mourners left flowers, American flags, and handwritten notes in tribute to the Hortmans. One read: “You were our leader through the hardest of times. Rest in Power.”
U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar shared a statement from Yvette Hoffman, who survived alongside her husband despite sustaining eight gunshot wounds.
“John is enduring many surgeries right now and is closer every hour to being out of the woods,” she wrote. “He took 9 bullet hits. I took 8. We are incredibly lucky to be alive. We are gutted and devastated by the loss of Melissa and Mark.”
Pam Stein, a Minneapolis resident who knelt beside the Capitol memorial, described Hortman as “an absolute powerhouse” and “the real unsung hero of Minnesota government.”
As the investigation continues, authorities are combing through Boelter’s digital and physical records for clues into his motives, amid a climate of increasingly hostile rhetoric and threats against public officials.
