A massive manhunt intensified Sunday for an assassination suspect sought in a chilling and deadly attack on Minnesota lawmakers a day earlier.
The suspect, identified by authorities as Vance Luther Boelter, 57, posed as a law enforcement officer to gain access to the victims’ homes in the pre-dawn hours on Saturday, officials said. Authorities said he and police officers exchanged gunfire before he fled on foot.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who called the attack a “politically motivated assassination,” said state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were shot and killed, and State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were shot multiple times and wounded in in Brooklyn Park and Champlin, two neighboring suburban cities 10 to 20 miles outside Minneapolis.
Suspect told friend he ‘might be dead soon’
The suspect in the attacks had been seen earlier Saturday wearing a light colored cowboy hat, a dark colored long sleeved collared shirt or coat with a dark bag, police said. The FBI offered a reward of up to $50,000 for information that could lead to an arrest.
David Carlson, 59, told Reuters that he had been sharing a house in Minneapolis with Boelter, who he had known since the fourth grade, for a little more than a year and last saw him on Friday night. Then about 6 a.m. on Saturday, he received a text from Boelter.
“He said that he might be dead soon,” said Carlson, who called police.
Who is Vance Luther Boelter?
Boelter is a St. Cloud State University graduate, according to SCSU spokesperson Zach Dwyer. Boelter wrote on his LinkedIn page that he was the CEO of a company called “Red Lion Group” and that he has traveled to Congo and several other countries, but those claims have not been confirmed.
Boelter is also listed on a website of a company called Praetorian Guard Security Services, which lists him as director of security patrols. The website describes him as involved with “security situations” overseas, including Africa, Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
Praetorian Guard Security Services, a residential armed home security company in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area, listed Boelter as director of security patrols for the company, according to its website.
The company offered licensed armed security patrols, uniformed security and event security, with the latter service coming soon.
“We drive the same make and model of vehicles that many police departments use in the U.S.,” the website said. “Currently we drive Ford Explorer Utility Vehicles.”
In 2019, Walz named Boelter and dozens of others to his Governor’s Workforce Development Board, which according to the governor’s website assists the governor in “developing, implementing, and modifying the state plan, review of statewide policies and programs, providing recommendations on actions to align and improve the workforce development system and programs,” and other state matters.
Who were the victims of the shootings in Minnesota?
Hoffman and Hortman are both members of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. Hoffman, 60, and his wife, Yvette, have one child and live in Champlin, according to his lawmaker profile. He was first elected in 2012. Hortman and her husband, Mark, have two children and live in Brooklyn Park, according to her profile. She was elected in 2004.
The Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) is a political party exclusive to Minnesota that was formed in 1944 when the Minnesota Democratic Party and the Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party merged.
Hortman was Speaker-Emerita of the House of Representatives, which is narrowly controlled by Republicans.
Hortman served her constituents with compassion and grace, Walz said.
“Our state lost a great leader and I lost the dearest of friends, he said. “She woke up every day determined to make this state a better place.”
How did Minnesota shooting suspect attack lawmakers?
According to authorities, police were called to a shooting around 2 a.m. on June 14 at the Hoffmans’ home in Champlin. The Hoffmans had been shot and wounded and were transported to a hospital, where they underwent surgery, officials said. Walz said they are “cautiously optimistic” the Hoffmans will survive.
Authorities said that while police were responding to the Hoffmans’ house, officers in neighboring Brooklyn Park, who were helping on the scene, decided to check on Hortman. When they arrived at Hortman’s home, they saw what appeared to be a police vehicle with lights on and encountered a man dressed as an officer coming out of the home.
Police exchanged gunfire with the man, who ran back inside and apparently fled out the back door, authorities said.
“Political violence is evil. It cannot be tolerated, and neither can those who condone it or make excuses for it,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said in a statement.
Contributing: Jeanine Santucci, Eduardo Cuevas; Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Minnesota lawmakers’ shooting updates: Search intensifies for suspect
