Minnesota lawmaker killed: Federal charges filed, gunman visited four homes in total

The man police said shot and killed one Minnesota lawmaker and wounded another was captured after a nearly two-day-long manhunt.

Update 12:24 p.m. ET June 16: The Department of Justice has filed charges against Vance Boelter, The Associated Press reported.

Prosecutors said he went to four homes trying to kill lawmakers, but one was on vacation and police had arrived at the home of the other.

Officials said a notebook carried by Boelter had a total of 45 Minnesota state and federal officials listed in it, CNN reported.

“Boelter planned his attack carefully,” acting US Attorney Joe Thompson said on Monday afternoon. “He researched his victims and their families. He used the Internet and other tools to find their addresses and names, the names of the family members. He conducted surveillance of their homes and took notes about the location of their homes.”

Earlier, police said he had a list of 70 names and locations but the difference in numbers may be attributed to duplication of names across various documents.

Thompson said, “Boelter stalked his victims like prey.”

The FBI announced the federal charges against Boelter include murder, stalking and firearms violations, The New York Times reported. The murder charge could bring the death penalty.

Earlier, officials said that police and Boelter exchanged gunfire, but now officials said they are not sure if Boelter fired upon officers, the Times reported.

Officials do not have a motive yet, with Thompson saying that they did not see a “Unabomber-style manifesto in his (Boelter’s) writings,” the Times reported.

“Obviously, his 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,” Thompson said, according to CNN.

Original report: Vance Boelter was arrested Sunday, charged with two counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder, The Associated Press reported.

He is being held in city hall on $5 million bail after being booked into the Hennepin County Jail early Monday morning, The Minnesota Star Tribune reported

“The suspect crawled to law enforcement teams and was placed under arrest at that point in time,” Lt. Colonel Jeremy Geiger of the Minnesota State Patrol said, according to the newspaper. “There was no use of force by any member of law enforcement that was out there, and the suspect was taken into custody without any use of force.”

In addition to those state charges, he may also face federal charges, CNN reported.

He was found in a wooded area near his home, and at one point, crawled to officers as he surrendered.

The area had “streams, fields, woods, crops,” but he was arrested in a field, police said.

A short time before being captured, he texted friends, apologizing for something, but didn’t say what he had done, the AP reported.

“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, according to the AP.

Police said Boelter first shot Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette.

Their daughter had called 911, reporting the shooting, the AP reported.

The wife and husband were both wounded but survived, CNN reported. During the shooting, police said Boelter was wearing a “police-style badge,” a tactical vest and a rubber mask. He had driven a Ford SUV that had been installed with a light bar that resembled police lights.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar shared a statement made by Yvette Hoffman describing the injuries she and her husband suffered. Yvette Hoffman said she was hit by bullets eight times while her husband was hit nine times.

When police found out he had allegedly shot at a lawmaker, they deployed a team to another lawmaker’s home — former House Speaker Melissa Hortman —out of caution.

When they got there, they said they saw Boelter shoot Mark Hortman through the home’s open door. They exchanged gunfire with Boelter before he escaped. They found Melissa Hortman shot as they chased Boelter through the house. The lawmaker and her husband died in their home, CNN reported.

The couple’s dog also had to be put down after being shot, Rep. Erin Koegel wrote on X.

It took approximately 43 hours and involved hundreds of detectives, more than 20 SWAT teams, drones, helicopters, and infrared cameras to track Boelter down, CNN reported.

It was the largest manhunt in Minnesota history, The Minnesota Star Tribune reported.

No official motive was given at the time of Boelter’s arrest, but police said they found 70 names on a list found inside the fake cruiser that was left at the Hortman’s shooting. The names included state and federal lawmakers, community leaders, abortion rights activists and information about health care facilities, the AP reported.

Boelter had served as a political appointee and worked on the same workforce development board as John Hoffman, but it is not known if they knew each other.

Gov. Tim Walz said, “This cannot be the norm. It cannot be the way that we deal with our political differences.”

Police said Boelter also had “at least three AK-47 assault rifles” and a handgun in the vehicle, the criminal complaint said, according to The Minnesota Star Tribune.

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