The man suspected of opening fire on two Minnesota legislators and their spouses on 14 June, killing one legislator and her husband, is set to appear in court on Monday afternoon charged with two counts of murder and two of attempted murder.
Vance Boelter, 57, is charged with fatally shooting the Democratic state representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, at their residence early on Saturday. Boelter is also accused of shooting the state senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, at their home, seriously injuring them.
He was booked into the Hennepin county jail in Minneapolis shortly after 1am Monday, ending a two-day search that Mark Bruley, the Brooklyn Park police chief, called the “largest manhunt in the state’s history”.
“One man’s unthinkable actions have altered the state of Minnesota,” its Democratic governor, Tim Walz, said at a news conference.
Bruley told reporters that Boelter was arrested in a rural area in Sibley county, southwest of Minneapolis, adding that he was armed when he was taken into custody.
Authorities located a vehicle he had been using abandoned on Sunday, and a police officer reported that he believed he saw Boelter running into the woods. Bruley said about 20 different tactical teams searched inside a perimeter for him.
He was located after an hours-long operation that included a helicopter, the police chief said. When Boelter was found, he crawled out to officers in the woods and was handcuffed and taken into custody in a field.
A criminal complaint unsealed Sunday night said Boelter faces two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder in the deaths of the Hortmans and the wounding of Hoffman and his wife.
Authorities alleged Boelter fled on foot after police responded to a shooting at Hortman’s house. Authorities alleged Boelter was wearing a police uniform that so closely resembled an actual law enforcement uniform that most civilians wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.
Walz, announcing the attacks on the prominent Democratic state lawmakers on Saturday, said the shootings appeared to be “a politically motivated assassination”.
A list of about 70 names was found in writings recovered from a fake police vehicle that was left at the crime scene, two law enforcement officials told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
The writings and list of names included prominent state and federal lawmakers and community leaders, along with abortion rights advocates and information about healthcare facilities, according to the officials.
A Minnesota official, also speaking anonymously, told AP that lawmakers who had been outspoken in favor of abortion rights were on the list.
Boelter is a former political appointee who served on the same state workforce development board as Hoffman, records show, though it was not clear if or how well they knew each other.
At about 6am Saturday, Boelter texted friends to apologize for his actions – but did not say what he had done.
“I’m going to be gone for a while. May be dead shortly, so I just want to let you know I love you guys both and I wish it hadn’t gone this way,” he wrote in messages viewed by the AP.
Earlier Sunday, Drew Evans, superintendent of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said at a news conference a nationwide warrant had been issued for the suspect’s arrest.
Evans said authorities found a car very early Sunday they believed Boelter was using, a few miles from his home in Green Isle, in the farm country about an hour west of Minneapolis. He also said they found evidence in the car that was relevant to the investigation, but did not provide details.
The superintendent also said authorities interviewed Boelter’s wife and other family members in connection with Saturday’s shootings. He said they were cooperative and were not in custody.
The FBI had issued a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to his arrest and conviction. They circulated a photo taken Saturday of Boelter wearing a tan cowboy hat and asked the public to report sightings.
On Sunday evening, US Senator Amy Klobuchar shared a statement from Yvette Hoffman expressing appreciation for the outpouring of public support.
“John is enduring many surgeries right now and is closer every hour to being out of the woods,” Yvette Hoffman said in a text that Klobuchar posted on social media. “He took 9 bullet hits. I took 8 and we are both incredibly lucky to be alive. We are gutted and devastated by the loss of Melissa and Mark.”
