Mourners pay their respects at a memorial in remembrance of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman.Ellen Schmidt/The Globe and Mail
The hunt for a suspect in the killing of a Democratic politician in Minnesota entered its second day on Sunday, as police announced the discovery of new evidence and sorted through what they described as hundreds of tips from the public.
State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were both shot dead in their home in Brooklyn Park, a city north of Minneapolis, on Saturday morning. John A. Hoffman, a Democratic state senator, and his wife, Yvette, were also shot in their home, located not far from the Hortmans’ residence. Both survived.
Governor Tim Walz has called the attack “a politically motivated assassination.” But no precise motive has been given yet for the killings.
Hundreds of police officers continued to search for a suspect whom authorities have identified as 57-year-old Vance Luther Boelter. Law enforcement officials said on Saturday that the suspect fled Ms. Hortman’s home after exchanging gunfire with police.
It is believed that Mr. Boelter impersonated a police officer and was driving an SUV that looked “exactly like a police vehicle,” local Police Chief Mark Bruley said at a news conference Sunday. Mr. Boelter was wearing a brown cowboy hat in a security camera photograph released by police.
Ms. Hortman's home is closed off with crime scene tape on Sunday.Ellen Schmidt/The Globe and Mail
Police found a car and a hat believed to have belonged to Mr. Boelter on Sunday afternoon in Sibley County, an hour south of Minneapolis, said Drew Evans, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, at a news conference on Sunday evening with local officials.
As police searched the area, residents were asked to keep their doors and vehicles locked.
Supt. Evans said investigators were working through more than 400 tips provided by the public.
Asked if Mr. Boelter could be heading toward the Canadian border, Supt. Evans said police have no evidence that he is heading in any particular direction but that “all options are open to the investigative team.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.
Trump condemns Minnesota shootings but violence has long played a role in U.S. politics
A list of 70 potential targets was found in the suspect’s vehicle, police said. The list included the names of politicians, business leaders, doctors and locations of Planned Parenthood centres. The potential targets have been contacted by the authorities to warn them.
Supt. Evans warned the public against assigning a motive to Mr. Boelter’s alleged crimes.
“While everyone wants an easy answer, I would encourage everybody online and in our communities to not speculate on what occurred and what the motivation was for this,” he said.
“We often want easy answers for complex problems, and this is a complex situation that our investigators are going to need time to sift through the information.”
A memorial at the Minnesota State Capitol in remembrance of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman.Ellen Schmidt/The Globe and Mail
Mr. Boelter and his wife, Jenny, run a private security company called Praetorian Guard Security Services in Minnesota.
The company website lists him as the director of security patrols and says that he has been involved with “security situations” in Eastern Europe, Africa, North America and the Middle East.
His wife is listed as the president and chief executive officer. The company page says it offers armed security and that it uses Ford Explorer SUVs, “the same make and model of vehicles that many police departments use.”
Residents in Brooklyn Park were in shock at the events that have put their community at the centre of a national tragedy.
Dalal Abuisnaineh, who lives directly across from former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman, gestures toward the home on Sunday in Brooklyn Park, Minn. Ms. Abuisnaineh said she watched as first responders removed Hortman from her home after a gunman posing as a police officer fatally shot her and her husband.Ellen Schmidt/The Globe and Mail
Dalal Abuisnaineh, who lives across the street from Ms. Hortman, described waking up in the early hours of Saturday morning to the sounds of voices and gunshots outside her home. She said in an interview that she knew something was wrong when she saw Ms. Hortman’s limp body being carried out of the house by a man in a brown-and-white military uniform.
“Oh my god, that’s my neighbour,” Ms. Abuisnaineh said, recalling her thought at the time.
The Hortmans’ home on Sunday morning remained cordoned off by police tape. The front door and several windows were boarded up with sheets of plywood.
Ms. Abuisnaineh, describing Ms. Hortman as a “hard-working lady” and “the best neighbour,” recalled that the legislator spent hours in her manicured garden and shared the mint she grew with Ms. Abuisnaineh.
Ms. Hortman, 55, was the top Democratic lawmaker in the Minnesota House of Representatives. She served six years as House speaker.
Her political career began in 2004 when she defeated Republican incumbent Stephanie Olsen to gain a seat in the House, quickly becoming a well-respected member of her party. During her tenure, she helped to expand protections for abortion and gender-affirming care and advocated for stricter gun control.
The home of Minnesota Senator John Hoffman had bullet holes in the front door on Sunday.Ellen Schmidt/The Globe and Mail
Mr. Hoffman, 60, was first elected to the Minnesota Senate in 2012 after defeating Republican incumbent Benjamin Krause. He served as a minority whip from 2017 to 2020 and is chair of the Senate’s human services committee.
On his campaign website, Mr. Hoffman said he was proud of his work making life easier for people with disabilities.
On NBC News’s Meet The Press, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat, said that authorities believe the suspect is still in the Midwest.
“Everyone is on edge here because we know that this man will kill at a second … he is someone that no one should mess with, except for law enforcement,” she told the network.
“I believe that our local law enforcement and the Capital Police and the like will protect us,” she told NBC. “But, again, my concern is that this guy is going to come up against just an innocent, try to take their car, try to go into their house.”
The state’s entire delegation, “from the most conservative Republican to the most liberal Democrat,” condemned the shootings in a joint statement, she said. Security has been increased for herself and other politicians in Minnesota.
Ms. Abuisnaineh’s adult daughter, Sarah, said she was worried the attacks might make people afraid to voice their opinions, or even publicly support a political party.
“I think that this plays a huge role in our future,” she said in an interview, expressing concern about political violence that could be stirred up.
With a report from Associated Press and Reuters