Police capture suspect in Minnesota lawmaker killing

Police arrest Vance Boelter in Green Isle, Minnesota, after a multi-day manhunt

(Image credit: Ramsey County Sheriff's Office via AP)

What happened

Police on Sunday evening captured the man suspected of killing the top Democrat in the Minnesota House and her husband and wounding a Democratic state senator and his wife early Saturday morning. The suspect, Vance Boelter, was armed when arrested in a field near his home in Green Isle, Minnesota, following a two-day manhunt involving more than 100 law enforcement officers, officials said.

Who said what

Police said Boelter, 57, impersonated a police officer to shoot state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, in the northern Minneapolis suburb of Champlin, then drove nine miles to Brooklyn Park and killed former state House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark. Police checking on local elected officials after learning of the Hoffman shootings witnessed the killing of Mark Hortman and engaged in gunfire with the suspect, according to charging documents.

Police found a car belonging to Boelter near Green Isle then encircled a wooded area on a tip from a local resident and after an "alert police officer" thought he saw him running into the woods, Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley said. "There's no question that this is the largest manhunt in the state's history."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Authorities said they believe that Boelter acted alone and that "the shootings were deliberate and targeted" after finding a "roster of dozens of names, including Democratic lawmakers and people who are supportive of abortion rights and other liberal causes" across the Midwest, in his fake police SUV, The Washington Post said. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) on Saturday said the Hortman killings appeared to be a "politically motivated assassination."

What next?

Boelter was charged with two initial state counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder. "One man's unthinkable actions have altered the state of Minnesota," Walz said Sunday night, thanking law enforcement officers for having "spent Father's Day away from their families to deliver justice for Melissa and Mark Hortman and their children, who spent this Father's Day alone." He remembered the slain lawmaker as the "most consequential speaker in state history" and said the Hoffmans were out of surgery and expected to recover.

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.