The man suspected of killing a Minnesota lawmaker and wounding another was arrested by police officers Sunday after they located him in the woods near his home.
Vance Boelter was arrested and charged with two counts of murder and two of attempted murder. His surrender brought an end to a massive, nearly two-day search that put the entire state on edge, reports AP.
He 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 Senator John Hoffman, a Democrat, and his wife, Yvette. They were injured at their residence about 15 kilometers away.
The search for Boelter was the “largest manhunt in the state’s history,” Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley said. It began when Brooklyn Park officers went to check on Hortman’s home and saw her husband gunned down before the shooter fled.
Authorities on Sunday located a vehicle Boelter was using abandoned in rural Sibley County, where he lived, and a police officer reported that he believed he saw Boelter running into the woods, Bruley said. Police set up a large perimeter and called in 20 different tactical teams, divvying up the area and searching for him.
During the search, police said they received information confirming 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 and taken into custody in a field, authorities said.
The Hoffmans were attacked first at their home in Champin early Saturday. A criminal complaint unsealed after Boelter’s arrest indicated their adult daughter called 911 just after 2 am 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.
Authorities did not give a motive as they announced Boelter’s arrest.
A list of about 70 names was found in writings recovered from the fake police vehicle that was left at the crime scene. A Minnesota official said lawmakers who had been outspoken in favor of abortion rights were on the list.
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.