The suspected killer of a Democratic lawmaker and her husband in Minnesota is due to appear in court Monday on felony charges, after a two-day manhunt.
The suspect, 57-year-old Vance Boelter, allegedly disguised himself as a police officer, then shot and killed Democratic state representative Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark at their home early Saturday.
Boelter was captured in Sibley County, a rural area about an hour southwest of the Minneapolis suburbs where the killings occurred, police and state officials said.
“After (a) two-day manhunt, two sleepless nights, law enforcement have apprehended Vance Boelter,” Minnesota Governor Tim Walz told a late-night news conference.
Police said he was taken into custody without the use of force after the largest manhunt in the state’s history, with 20 SWAT teams and several agencies working to find him.
A Sibley County resident reported their camera captured an image that “was consistent with Boelter”, local media reported citing authorities.
SWAT teams converged on the area and used drones to identify the suspect’s location. Boelter attempted to evade arrest but officers crawled through ditches in the area’s farm fields to confine him, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported.
Boelter is also suspected of shooting state Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette in their home. They survived and were treated for serious injuries, authorities said.
“The latest news is Senator Hoffman came out of his final surgery and is moving toward recovery,” Walz told reporters.
Hoffman was shot nine times and Yvette eight times, according to US Senator Amy Klobuchar.
Boelter was charged with two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder, which carry maximum sentences of up to 40 years, according to a court filing.
He was held in custody at Hennepin County jail and is scheduled to appear in court at 1:30 pm (1830 GMT) on Monday, the jail records show.
‘Politically motivated’
A notebook containing the names of other lawmakers and potential targets was found inside a car left by Boelter at the Hortmans’ home, which Drew Evans, head of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said Sunday was not a “traditional manifesto.”
The attacks renewed fears of persistent political violence in America.
“I am concerned about all our political leaders, political organizations,” US Senator Amy Klobuchar, who represents Minnesota, said Sunday.
“It was politically motivated, and there clearly was some throughline with abortion because of the groups that were on the list, and other things that I’ve heard were in this manifesto. So that was one of his motivations.”
As speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2019 to January 2025, Hortman was committed to legislation that protected reproductive rights in the state, local media reported.
‘Cannot be the norm’
The United States is bitterly divided politically as President Donald Trump embarks on his second term, implementing hardline policies and routinely insulting his opponents. Political violence has become more common.
Trump himself survived an assassination attempt last year, with a second attempt foiled by law enforcement.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s home was set on fire this year.
An assailant with a hammer attacked the husband of then-US House speaker Nancy Pelosi in 2022.
“(This is) a moment in this country where we watch violence erupt,” Walz said after the arrest.
“This cannot be the norm. It cannot be the way that we deal with our political differences.”
US Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, who was attacked by a neighbor in 2017, told NBC that “nothing brings us together more than… mourning for somebody else who’s in political life, Republican or Democrats.”
The shootings came on the day a dramatic split screen showed a country divided: hundreds of thousands of protesters across the United States took to the streets to rally against Trump as the president presided over a military parade in Washington — a rare spectacle criticized as seeking to glorify him.
Trump has condemned the attacks in Minnesota on the lawmakers and their spouses.
The president was asked in a Sunday interview with ABC News if he planned to call Walz, who was Kamala Harris’s running mate in the election Trump won last year.
“Well, it’s a terrible thing. I think he’s a terrible governor. I think he’s a grossly incompetent person,” Trump said.
“But I may, I may call him, I may call other people too.”
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