Arrest made in Minnesota shooting case where Democrat lawmakers were targeted

The gunman accused of shooting two Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota has been taken into custody. 

Vance Boelter, aged 57, was taken into custody on Sunday night for the killings of Melissa Hortman, a Democratic State Representative, and her spouse, as well as the attack on John Hoffman, a Democratic State Senator, and his wife.

He is now confronting charges at both state and federal levels. Officials revealed that there is a nationwide warrant for Boelter’s apprehension related to the murders and attempted murder at the state level. Additionally, a federal warrant has been issued for his ‘unlawful flight to evade prosecution.’

Boelter, a supporter of former President Trump, was located in a field in Sibley County. When a helicopter flew above him, he raised his arms and proceeded towards a nearby SWAT vehicle, as per information from journalist Liz Collin.

His arrest came just hours after authorities located his car, a Buick that appeared to be dumped in Faxon Township, and found a cowboy hot lying on the ground that was identical to one Boelter was wearing in CCTV images released by the FBI.

By around 4pm, a four-door dark blue Buick Regal sedan was seen being removed from the search area on a flatbed truck. 

Meanwhile, state troopers equipped with rifles and full body armor went house to house searching yards, outbuildings and garages in a rural part of the county.

Minnesota State Patrol, SWAT Teams and a US Marshals Fugitive Task Force were seen arriving in a dozen or more armored vehicles complete with rooftop snipers at around 11am Sunday.

Hundreds of other police set up a command post in Green Isle, near Boelter and his wife Jenny’s home, to coordinate the manhunt.

It is believed Boelter, a Trump supporter, was motivated to kill the two Democrats due to their support for abortion rights after police uncovered a hit list of about 70 people from his car Saturday morning.

Most of the names on that list were Democrats or people with ties to Planned Parenthood or the abortion rights movement, including Rep. Ilhan Omar, CNN reports.

A second hit list with more than a dozen new names was also found during a search of one of Boelter’s homes on Saturday as police continued their manhunt for the suspect. 

Here’s what you need to know about the political assassinations in Minnesota:

• Boelter is wanted for the killings of Democratic State Rep Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark in Champlin. The suspect also shot and wounded Democratic State Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette in nearby Brooklyn Park.
• Cops first responded to a call about the shooting at Hoffman’s home about 2am on Saturday. They then went to check Hortman’s home where they spotted the suspect.
• The suspect, dressed in police gear, exchanged gunfire with cops before retreating inside the house and then fleeing out the back on foot.
• Boelter’s wife Jenny was pulled over by police with suspicious items in her car about 10am on Saturday, but was let go
• The FBI believes the attacks were politically motivated
• Inside the car they found handmade ‘No Kings’ flyers, an anti-Trump protests that took place across the US on Saturday that he may have planned to attack
• Boelter was a Trump supporter and opposed abortion, according to his roommate
• Inside his car cops found a hit list of prominent abortion rights campaigners, many of them Democratic lawmakers
• Donald Trump called the shootings ‘terrible’ after being briefed on the matter. ‘Such horrific violence will not be tolerated in the United States of America,’ he said.  

The search area on Sunday included around 120 acres of fields and woodland belonging to Brian Liebhard, 65.

He said he was having trouble sleeping and was on his porch alone at 2.30am when he heard gunshots – about eight hours before the police arrived.

His nephew later told him he’d found a dark Buick abandoned in a secluded side road along with a cowboy hat.

‘I heard two shots. I have no idea if it’s related to this,’ he previously told DailyMail.com.

Liebhard said he went to church on Sunday morning and came back and found access to his property blocked by a police cordon.

He gave officers permission to begin an extensive search of his land, which includes several abandoned, crumbling homes and barns.

The area is waterlogged and difficult to traverse without sinking deep into the mud, Liebhard added.

‘My daughter brought up where this guy lived and said “Dad he’s only four miles from us,”‘ he said.

‘I’ve never seen him myself. As far as I know they are still searching for him there,’ he said Sunday afternoon.

Authorities had previously questioned Boelter’s wife, Jenny, who was stopped at a convenience store while driving a car with three other relatives inside near Onamia about 10am on Saturday.

She was found with a weapon, ammunition, cash, and passports about 75 miles from where the shootings took place in northern Minneapolis eight hours earlier. 

More than a dozen officers swarmed Jenny’s car during the traffic stop and they were at the scene for two to three hours.

Jenny was detained for questioning after officers found the items inside the vehicle, but no one was arrested as she was released.

Authorities have since said she and other family members were cooperative with the investigation. 

But it remains unclear whether Boelter’s vehicle was stopped randomly or being tracked by police.

Police say Boelter the shot Hoffman and his wife Yvette at their home in Champlin at around 2am on Saturday, but they survived the attack with multiple wounds.

Hortman and her husband Mark were then fatally shot at their home eight miles away in Brooklyn Park about 3am. 

Officers then encountered the gunman fleeing Hortman’s home at 3.35am and exchanged gunfire with him, which is when they reportedly found the initial hit list.

Chilling photos showed the suspect donning an unsettling costume mask covering his entire head. 

Yet officers somehow let the suspect slip through their fingers as he escaped the scene on foot.

When authorities then began their search for the suspect, Boelter’s best friend and roommate David Carlson told local news outlet KARE11 he was an avid Trump supporter and voted for the Republican candidate. 

He also described the suspect as a Christian who opposed abortion.

In fact, the suspect worked as a pastor and was seen in a newly unearthed video dancing in a church service in Africa. 

The clip, filmed in February 2023, showed him delivering a passionate testimony about how he met Jesus at the age of 17.

‘I met the Lord when I was 17 years old and I gave my life to Jesus Christ,’ he says in the clip.

He went on to describe naming his five children – who he shares with Jenny – after Christian virtues, Grace, Faith, Hope, Joy, and David, in what he calls a testament to God’s blessings on his life.

The alleged assassin also has armed security experience in the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe, and North America through the Praetorian Guard Security Services, his biography on the website detailed. 

‘He brings a great security aspect forged by both many on the ground experiences combined with training by both private security firms and by people in the US Military,’ it read.

‘Vance Boelter has focused all this experience to make sure Praetorian Guard Security Services covers the needs you have to keep your family and property safe.’

Boelter had also lived a life of public service before Saturday’s tragedies, and he even served on the Governor’s Workforce Development Board, which works closely with Gov. Tim Walz to give advice on the state’s workforce.

He served on the board from June 2016 to June 2018 as a private sector representative and from December 2019 to January 2023 as a board member. 

He was appointed under Walz both times.

Additionally, Boelter was the chief executive of Red Lion Group, which was based in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Red Lion Group has since deleted its website and LinkedIn pages, but Boelter’s LinkedIn said he started at the company in December 2021.

He announced two years ago that he was in the country with his company, working on ‘private business projects’.

Boelter also worked for Metro First Call, a funeral company in Minneapolis, in August 2023 to February 2025, where he took bodies from nursing homes to the business to be prepared for burial.

He said in a video posted online that he worked with police and death investigators at crime scenes. 

Boelter updated his LinkedIn a month ago to say he had returned to the US and was looking for work in the food industry on the corporate side.

He had previously worked at 7-Eleven and Greencore as a general manager, a system manager at Del Monte Foods, and an operational leader at Johnsonville Sausage, according to his LinkedIn.

The social media page also shows his deep connections to politics, as he asked his followers to vote ahead of the 2020 election. 

The night before the deadly shots were fired, Boelter texted his roommates that he was ‘going to be gone for a while’.

Carlson, who shared a North Minneapolis home with Boelter, tearfully read aloud text messages from the accused assassin.

‘David and Ron, I love you guys,’ the eerie note began. ‘I made some choices, and you guys don’t know anything about this, but I’m going to be gone for a while.’

He also said he ‘may be dead shortly’ and did not wish to involve Carlson or his other roommate Ron Ramsey.

‘I don’t know why he did what he did,’ Carlson, his roommate, told KARE 11.

‘It’s just… it’s not Vance… He had lots of friends, trust me, and I wish I could have been there to stop him.’