What we know about the attack on two Minnesota lawmakers

On Saturday, two state lawmakers from Minnesota were gunned down in their homes in what Governor Tim Walz called a “politically motivated assassination” attempt. The attacks left one politician dead and the other seriously injured.

Police are hunting for a suspect, Vance Luther Boelter, who remained at large on Sunday evening.

The attacks drew condemnation from across the political spectrum. President Donald Trump said in a statement that “such horrific violence will not be tolerated”.

US Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, called it “an attack on everything we stand for as a democracy”.

State representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were shot and killed in their home, the governor said.

She had served in the Minnesota House of Representatives for 20 years, and was speaker of the chamber from 2019-25.

State Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were shot multiple times and injured, but survived. They had surgery.

Both lawmakers are Democrats.

So far, local law enforcement has confirmed that the attacks occurred in the early hours of Saturday in the cities of Brooklyn Park and Champlin, Minnesota.

Drew Evans, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said police received a call at 02:00 local time about an incident at Hoffman’s house in Champlin.

Another call to police came in at 03:35, when officers were checking on Hortman’s home, nearby in Brooklyn Park.

Police discovered what looked like an emergency vehicle parked at the home with emergency lights flashing.

Coming out of the home was someone resembling a police officer, who immediately opened fire on officers, darted back into the house, then escaped on foot.

Mark Bruley, chief of Brooklyn Park police, said the suspect was “wearing a vest with a Taser, other equipment, a badge” posing as law enforcement in order “to manipulate their way into the home”.

Police said they are looking for a single suspect, 57-year-old Vance Luther Boelter. They did not give details on a possible motive.

A former political appointee, Boelter was once a member of the same state workforce development board as Hoffman.

“We don’t know the nature of the relationship or if they actually knew each other,” said Mr Evans.

Investigators said officers found a “manifesto” and a list of 70 “targets”, including the names of state Democratic politicians, in a vehicle the suspect drove for the assassination.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, congresswoman Ilhan Omar, Minnesota’s two US senators, Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, and state Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison were reportedly on the hit list.

Locations for Planned Parenthood, which provides abortions and contraception, were also on the list, a person familiar with the investigation told the Minnesota Star Tribune.

Boelter is a security contractor who has worked in Africa and the Middle East, according to an online CV. He had also apparently had managerial roles at firms in Minnesota.

Boelter once preached as a pastor at a church in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to Facebook photos. He had travelled often to the nation, indicate posts from his LinkedIn account.

According to local TV affiliate KTTC, Boelter’s only criminal history in Minnesota was for traffic tickets, including speeding and parking violations.

He texted a troubling message to friends at a Minneapolis residence, where he had rented a room and would stay one or two nights a week, the Minnesota Star Tribune reports.

Boelter said: “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.”

The FBI has added Boelter to its most wanted list, and offered a $50,000 reward.

The manhunt – which has widened over state lines into South Dakota and involves hundreds of law-enforcement personnel – is now in its second day.

On Sunday, officers said they had found an unoccupied car linked to the suspect in Sibley County, about 50 miles (80km) from the murder scene.

A cowboy hat, similar to what Boelter was believed to have been wearing, was found lying on a road nearby.

His wife was detained in a traffic stop along with three relatives in a car in the city of Onamia, more than 100 miles from the family home, on Saturday morning, but released after questioning.