Among the names on a “list” left behind by the gunman accused of killing a Minnesota lawmaker and wounding another were people from Illinois, officials investigating the crime told reporters.
The suspect, 57-year-old Vance Boelter, is accused of posing as a police officer and fatally shooting former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in their home early Saturday in the northern Minneapolis suburbs. Authorities say he also shot Sen. John Hoffman, a Democrat, and his wife, Yvette. They were injured at their residence about 9 miles away.
Boelter surrendered to police Sunday after they found him in the woods near his home following a massive manhunt that began early Saturday near Minneapolis.
According to Joe Thompson, acting U.S. Attorney for Minnesota, Boelter had notebooks containing lists of Minnesota state and federal elected officials, along with some names from out-of-state officials.
Here’s what to know about the case so far:
Who was on the ‘lists’ from the alleged Minnesota gunman?
A list of about 70 names was found in writings recovered from the fake police vehicle at the crime scene, said two law enforcement officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss details of the ongoing investigation.
Officials noted several additional notebooks and writings were also recovered in their investigation.
Among the writings were a list of names, including prominent state and federal lawmakers and community leaders, along with abortion rights advocates and information about health care facilities, according to the officials.
A Minnesota official told AP lawmakers who had been outspoken in favor of abortion rights were on the list. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing.
Drew Evans, the superintendent for the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said names included individuals from Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa and other states.
Illinois State Police said they were “communicating with individuals in Illinois whose names were on one of the lists found.”
“The information the shooter had accumulated, potentially in paper and electronic form, was filled with inaccuracies and needs to be put into the appropriate context before being shared with the individuals being referenced, and has been in the process of being vetted overnight by ISP special agents,” ISP said in a statement.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker confirmed his name was among those listed, but declined to call the evidence a “hit list.”
“There was a list in the car that was recovered before they arrested the perpetrator, and that list was referred to as a hit list. It has Minnesota politicians on it,” Pritzker said. “Later, as the FBI and the Minnesota police were going to the various locations that this man lived, they recovered devices and other papers that had on them 600 names. More of a hodgepodge. They put all that together, and out of a desire to be responsive to the media and other inquires, the FBI decided to put out the list. It’s not, as I’ve been told, a hit list of any sort. The people on that list were not targeted in any way.”
“Boelter planned his attack carefully” by researching his intended victims and their families and conducting surveillance of their homes and taking notes, Thompson said, adding that the writings “appear to have been done at various times over the course of at least months.”
How did the Minnesota shootings begin?
The Hoffmans were attacked first at their home in Champlin early Saturday. A criminal complaint indicated their adult daughter called 911 to say a masked person had come to the door and shot her parents.
After police in nearby Brooklyn Park learned that a lawmaker had been shot, they sent patrol officers to check on the Hortmans’ home.
Brooklyn Park police officers arrived just in time to see Boelter shoot Mark Hortman through the open door of the home, the complaint says. It says they exchanged gunfire with Boelter, who fled inside the home before escaping the scene. Melissa Hortman was found dead inside, the complaint said.
Evans said the violence likely would’ve continued had Brooklyn Park officers not checked on Hortman’s home, causing Boelter to flee.
Authorities said Boelter posed as a police officer, even allegedly altering a vehicle to make it look like a police car.
A Minnesota lawmaker said that Hortman’s dog had to be euthanized after being shot in the attack.
“Her children had to put down him after learning their parents had been murdered, ” Rep. Erin Koegel posted on the social media platform X. “Gilbert wasn’t going to survive. Melissa loved that dog. She trained him as a service dog. He flunked out of school and she was so happy he failed so he could stay!”
Boelter also went to the homes of two other lawmakers to carry out more carnage on the night of the shootings, a federal prosecutor said.
But one of the other lawmakers was not home and the suspect left the other house after police arrived, acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson said at a press conference Monday.
Who were the victims?
Melissa Hortman was a lifelong Minneapolis-area resident who rose up to become a powerful Democratic leader in the state’s deeply divided Legislature.
Elected to the Minnesota House in 2004, she helped pass liberal initiatives like free lunches for public school students in 2023 as the chamber’s speaker. This year, she helped break a budget impasse that threatened to shut down state government.
State Sen. John Hoffman, and his wife, who were shot at their home in Champlin, a Minneapolis suburb, were recovering from multiple gunshot wounds.
Hoffman is chair of the Senate committee overseeing human resources spending.
He also served on a state workforce development board with Boelter, who was twice appointed to the board. It was not clear if or how well they knew each other.
Who is Vance Boelter?
Friends and former colleagues interviewed by the AP describe Boelter as a devout Christian who attended an evangelical church and went to campaign rallies for President Donald Trump.
He held deeply religious and politically conservative views, telling a congregation in Africa two years ago that the U.S. was in a “bad place” where most churches didn’t oppose abortion.
His friends also say that he didn’t talk about politics often and didn’t seem extreme.
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.
Just hours after the shootings, Boelter texted friends to apologize for his actions, though he didn’t 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.
What was the motive?
Authorities did not give a motive as they announced Boelter’s arrest.
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.
“Let me say this, there’s been a lot of press coverage and speculation and discussion of a manifesto. I’ve seen nothing like a Unabomber-style manifesto,” Thompson said. “In his writings, he had many, many notebooks full of plans, lists of names surveillance efforts that he took to surveil and locate the home addresses and family members’ relationships with these elected officials, but I have not seen anything involving some sort of political screed or manifesto that would clearly identify what motivated him.”
Thompson said the primary motive was “to go out and murder people.”
“They were all elected officials. They were all Democrats. Beyond that, I think it’s just way too speculative for anyone that’s reviewed these materials to know and to say what was motivating him in terms of ideology or specific issues,” he said.
Where did police find the suspect?
Authorities on Sunday spotted an abandoned vehicle that the 57-year-old Boelter had been using in rural Sibley County, where he lived. An officer reported he believed he saw Boelter running into the woods, police said. Police called in 20 different tactical teams to search for him.
During the search, police said they confirmed someone was in the woods and searched for hours, using a helicopter and officers on foot, until they found Boelter. He surrendered to police, crawling out to officers in the woods before he was handcuffed, authorities said.
The search for Boelter was the “largest manhunt in the state’s history,” Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley said.
What are the charges?
Boelter was charged with federal murder, stalking offenses. He already faces state charges, including murder and attempted murder.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( The 2025 James Beard Awards are tonight. Here's which Chicago restaurants, chefs could win )
Also on site :