• Suspect captured: Vance Boelter, the suspect in the shootings of two Democratic Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses, was arrested Sunday after the “largest manhunt in the state’s history.” At SWAT teams’ command, Boelter crawled toward officers and surrendered, said the head of the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

• First-degree murder charges: Boelter, 57, will face first-degree murder charges, the Hennepin County prosecutor said. Minnesota does not have the death penalty, so the maximum sentence would be life in prison without parole, if convicted.

• Federal charges could yield the death penalty: Boelter faces six federal charges, including murdering the Hortmans with a firearm. Those are eligible for the death penalty, but it’s “too early to tell” if the federal prosecutor’s office will pursue it, he said.

• Lawmakers targeted: State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed Saturday at their home after state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife were wounded at their home. After the first attack, police “proactively” checked on Hortman’s home, where they found a shooter posing as an officer before he fled. If they hadn’t engaged him then, the attack may have “continued throughout the day,” an official said. He also visited the homes of two other lawmakers “with the intent to kill them,” officials said.

• National-level hit list: While a motive isn’t yet known, the suspect had an apparent hit list with dozens of names, officials said. The list includes prominent Democrats and figures with ties to Planned Parenthood or the abortion rights movement. The shootings unfolded on a tense day in national politics, as tens of thousands participated in “No Kings” protests against the Trump administration and the president hosted a military parade.

The suspect accused of killing one Minnesota lawmaker and wounding another over the weekend included the names of prominent Michigan Democrats in notes he wrote that were reviewed by law enforcement.

It wasn’t clear Monday if the Michigan officials’ names were featured in a potential target list or simply mentioned in documents written by Vance Boelter, the suspect who allegedly shot two Democratic state legislators from Minnesota early Saturday at their homes.

The news of the violence in Minnesota sent reverberations through the political scene in Michigan, a battleground state that’s experienced a rash of threats against officeholders in recent years and the uncovering of a 2020 plot to kidnap its governor, Gretchen Whitmer.

The Michigan Democrats included in Boelter’s writings were Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson of Detroit; Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Holly; and U.S. Reps. Debbie Dingell, D-Ann Arbor; Hillary Scholten, D-Grand Rapids; Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit; Haley Stevens, D-Birmingham; and Shri Thanedar, D-Detroit.

“The gunman had written down over 80 members of Congress, scribbled on hundreds of sheets of papers which included hundreds of names of additional civilians and local politicians,” said Thanedar, noting he’s been in conversation with local police and D.C. special agents.

“I am just one of the 80. The FBI feels that there were no threats or home addresses for members associated, so (it’s) not quite a planned threat against members. … According to the FBI, they don’t think it’s a hit list but a rambling of a conspiracy.”

Police were patrolling and conducting surveillance at lawmakers’ homes both in Washington, D.C., and in Michigan, but “we don’t know how long that will last,” Thanedar added.

“We’ve got to do our jobs. We can’t be intimidated by this, because that’s what they want. … But I can’t help looking over my shoulder for any suspicious activity that might be happening around me,” he said.

“It’s very scary stuff. This kind of political violence we don’t expect to happen in America. We really all need to bring the temperature down, starting with the president.”

Scholten’s office said Monday that she had increased her security and canceled a Muskegon town hall planned for Monday night. Scholten spokeswoman Cecilia Belzer said Michigan State Police were the first to let the congresswoman know about her name appearing among Boelter’s documents.

“Out of an abundance of caution and to not divert additional law enforcement resources away from protecting the broader public at this time, this is the responsible choice,” Scholten said in a statement on not holding her town hall. “We will reschedule this event as soon as possible, and I remain committed to ensuring every West Michigander has the opportunity to make their voice heard.”

Dingell, by contrast, planned to move ahead with two planned Monday evening town halls in her district, according to her office.

The office of U.S. Sen. Gary Peters of Bloomfield Township said it is requesting additional information from the FBI and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Peters is the top Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security panel.

What notebooks contained

The Monday criminal complaint filed against Boelter said officers recovered from his SUV several notebooks full of hand-written notes that listed the names of more than 45 Minnesota state and federal public officials, including prominent Democrats and community figures, individuals with ties to Planned Parenthood and the abortion rights movement, according to the Associated Press.

The notebooks also contained lists of internet-based people search engines used to aggregate home address information, including Spokeo, Pipl and the Whitepages, according to the complaint.

During a press conference overnight, Drew Evans, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said there were names in Boelter’s documents from Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska and Wisconsin.

“I will not get into any more specifics beyond that,” Evans told reporters.

In a separate Monday press conference, Evans said law enforcement had reviewed multiple “writings” from Boelter. Likewise, Joseph Thompson, acting U.S. attorney for Minnesota, said there were hundreds of pages of documents with names featured in multiple notebooks. Some of the notebooks were found in a vehicle, while others were in Boelter’s home, Thompson said.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker told reporters Monday that there was no “hit list” with the names of Illinois politicians on it. More than 600 names were included within documents police uncovered in “more of a hodgepodge,” Pritzker said.

“It wasn’t a list of 600,” Pritzker said. “It was literally a few people here and a few people there.”

U.S. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York wrote Monday to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, asking him to boost the money available for U.S. House lawmakers to spend on their security, following the weekend shootings, Politico reported.

The suspect, 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.

State Senate schedule still on

Boelter is accused of posing as a police officer and fatally shooting Democratic former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in their home early Saturday in the northern suburbs of Minneapolis. Officials said he also shot Sen. John Hoffman, a Democrat, and his wife, Yvette. They were injured at their residence, about 9 miles away.

Boelter went to the homes of two other lawmakers to carry out more violence on the night of the shootings, 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 Monday news conference.

The 57-year-old Boelter is facing state charges, including murder and attempted murder, and has been charged with federal murder and stalking offenses.

“Boelter planned his attack carefully” by researching his intended victims and their families and conducting surveillance of their homes and taking notes, Thompson said. Though the targets were Democrats and elected officials, the acting U.S. attorney said it was too soon to speculate on any sort of political ideology that could explain his motives.

Authorities declined to name the two other elected officials whom Boelter allegedly stalked but who escaped harm. But it was clear the shootings were politically motivated, they said.

The charges came as Robert Davis Forney, 25, of Duluth, Georgia, was arraigned Monday on federal charges of communicating threats in interstate commerce. Forney was accused of leaving voicemails threatening sexual violence against U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and his family as well as against U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Nebraska, in January, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Northern District of Georgia.

Michigan Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, tweeted over the weekend that she personally knew Hortman.

“The murder of her and Mark leaves a huge hole in their community, and state legislators across the country and across party lines are grieving for them,” Brinks posted on Saturday.

The Michigan Senate has session days scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday. Those session days and committee hearings planned for this week will go forward, Brinks spokeswoman Rosie Jones said.

Jones declined to share the specifics of any additional security measures that might be taken.

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U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty of Columbus said in a social media post that her name was on a list recovered by Minnesota police from the suspect who allegedly shot and killed a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband and wounded another lawmaker and his wife.

Beatty said in a Facebook post Monday evening her office was notified her name was included in the materials police recovered from the suspect, 57-year-old Vance Boetler that included the names of numerous other lawmakers. Beatty said her security has been increased.

“I am grateful to the U.S. Capitol Police and the Columbus Police Department for their swift response,” Beatty said. “As this remains an ongoing investigation this is all I will share at this time.”

Boetler allegedly shot and killed former Minnesota Speaker of the House and state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark. He also shot and injured Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, who are both recovering in the hospital from multiple gunshot wounds.

Boetler was apprehended late Sunday in a rural area outside Minneapolis.

Beatty expressed her condolences to loved ones and colleagues of Hortman and her husband. She said she continues to keep the Hoffmans in her prayers as they continue to heal.

U.S. Rep. Greg Landsman of Cincinnati also said he was on the list according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz called the shootings “a politically motivated assassination.” Hortman and Hoffman were both members of the Democratic Party like Beatty and Landsman.

Minnesota U.S. Senator Tina Smith, also a Democrat, said she was also named on the materials as a target.

Authorities told NPR Boelter was disguised as a police officer, drove a black SUV with emergency lights turned on, and had a license plate that said “police.” He carried a 9mm handgun, wore a black tactical vest and was disguised with a realistic silicone mask. Police said the suspect banged on the lawmakers’ front doors in the middle of the night.

“This was a targeted attack against individuals who answered the call to public service,” said FBI special agent in charge Alvin Winston. “Let me say this clearly: political violence has no place in this country.”

Authorities found “voluminous writings” in the suspect’s vehicle and at his home. They theorize he had planned and researched lawmakers for several months.

Boelter has been charged with state and federal charges of murder, attempted murder and other crimes. He’s being held in federal custody.

At a news conference Saturday, state police said they found a list of about 45 individuals inside what they said is Boelter’s vehicle. Hortman and Hoffman were on that list along with other lawmakers, including Smith and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who are also both Democrats.

WOSU reached out to Beatty’s office for comment but did not immediately hear back.

What we know about the attack on two Minnesota lawmakers

6 hours ago Share Save Kayla Epstein BBC News Share Save

Getty Images/Minnesota State Senate

On Saturday, two state lawmakers from Minnesota were gunned down in their homes in what Governor Tim Walz called a “politically motivated assassination” attempt. The attacks left one politician dead and the other seriously injured. The suspect, Vance Luther Boelter, was taken into custody in rural woodland after a day-long manhunt. He has been charged with multiple counts of murder at the state and federal level. During a press conference on Monday, officials said that Mr Boelter allegedly also attempted to kill two other state lawmakers on Saturday.

Who were the victims?

State representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were shot and killed in their home, the governor said. She had served in the Minnesota House of Representatives for 20 years, and was speaker of the chamber from 2019 to 2025. Under her tenure, Minnesota Democrats passed a variety of liberal legislation that included the expansion of abortion rights and legalisation of recreational marijuana. She was also known for working across the aisle. In one of her final votes before the attack, sided with Republicans to support a bill provision that would make the state’s undocumented population ineligible for the state’s low-income healthcare programme. State Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were also shot multiple times and injured, but survived. During the shooting Yvette Hoffman threw herself on their adult daughter Hope Hoffman to shield her from the bullets, a relative has said. After surviving the hail of bullets that wounded her parents, Hope Hoffman then called local authorities who rushed to the scene and saved her parents’ lives. Both lawmakers who were shot are Democrats. Mrs Hoffman shared a statement on social media after the incident, saying she and her husband were “incredibly lucky to be alive” after they were hit by a combined total of 17 bullets. “John is enduring many surgeries right now and is closer every hour to being out of the woods,” Mrs Hoffman wrote. She also expressed sympathy for the loss of her colleagues in the state house. “We are gutted and devastated by the loss of Melissa and Mark. We have no words. There is never a place for this kind of political hate,” she wrote.

Yvette and John Hoffman/Facebook Yvette and John Hoffman were shot 17 times between them, but survived

What happened?

Law enforcement has confirmed the attacks occurred in the early hours of Saturday in the cities of Brooklyn Park and Champlin, Minnesota. Drew Evans, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said police received a call at 02:00 local time (03:00 EDT; 07:00 GMT) about an incident at Hoffman’s house in Champlin. Another call to police came in at 03:35, when officers were checking on Hortman’s home, nearby in Brooklyn Park. Police discovered what looked like an emergency vehicle parked at the home with emergency lights flashing. Coming out of the home was someone resembling a police officer, who immediately opened fire on officers, darted back into the house, then escaped on foot. Mark Bruley, chief of Brooklyn Park police, said the suspect was “wearing a vest with a Taser, other equipment, a badge” posing as law enforcement in order “to manipulate their way into the home”. In between Mr Boelter’s alleged attack at the Hoffman residence and the shooting at the Hortman residence, he visited the homes of two other state lawmakers allegedly targeting them, US Attorney Joseph H Thompson said on Monday. One of those lawmakers identified herself as one of the targets. “I have been made aware that the shooting suspect was parked near my home early Saturday morning,” Minnesota state senator Ann Rest said in a statement on Monday. “I am so grateful for the heroic work of the New Hope Police Department and its officers. Their quick action saved my life.” The attacks drew condemnation from across the political spectrum. President Donald Trump said “such horrific violence will not be tolerated”. Meanwhile, US Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, called it “an attack on everything we stand for as a democracy”.

Who is Vance Luther Boelter?

Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office/Reuters Police said suspect Vance Luther Boelter was armed at the time of his arrest

Police identified the suspect as 57-year-old Mr Boelter. They did not give details on a possible motive. A former political appointee, Mr Boelter was once a member of the same state workforce development board as Hoffman. “We don’t know the nature of the relationship or if they actually knew each other,” said Evans. Investigators reportedly found a list of 70 “targets”, including the names of state Democratic politicians, in a vehicle the suspect drove for the assassination. Walz, congresswoman Ilhan Omar, Minnesota’s two US senators, Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, and state Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison were on the hit list, according to local media. Locations for Planned Parenthood were also on the list, a person familiar with the investigation told the Minnesota Star Tribune. Supt Evans told reporters he would not describe the notebook found in the car as a “manifesto” as it was not “a treatise on all kinds of ideology and writings”. Mr Boelter is a security contractor and religious missionary who has worked in Africa and the Middle East, according to an online CV. He once preached as a pastor at a church in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to Facebook photos. He had travelled often to the nation, indicate posts from his LinkedIn account. An online video from two years ago seemed to show him addressing a congregation, adding that he has a wife and five children. He had also worked back in Minnesota for a major food distributor, a convenience store chain and for two funeral services businesses, according to his online profile. According to local TV affiliate KTTC, Mr Boelter’s only criminal history in Minnesota was for traffic tickets, including speeding and parking violations. He texted a troubling message to friends at a Minneapolis residence, where he had rented a room and would stay one or two nights a week, the Minnesota Star Tribune reports. Mr Boelter said: “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.”

How did police find Boelter?

Watch: Minnesota governor Tim Walz confirms Vance Luther Boelter’s arrest

On Sunday night, police said they found Mr Boelter after receiving information that he was seen in the area of Green Isle, a village not far from his home. Officers called the two-day search the “largest manhunt in the state’s history”, with multiple law enforcement agencies working together to find him. Mr Boelter was arrested in a rural area with mostly farmland, fields and small woods, and taken into custody “without any use of force” or injury to police. Police said he was armed when he was arrested, but did not provide further information on the type of weapons present. Supt Evans said Mr Boelter’s arrest brought “a sense of relief” to communities and lawmakers who were on the suspect’s list of targets. He also said law enforcement believed the suspect acted alone and was not part of a broader network. Authorities also condemned Mr Boelter’s impersonation of a police officer while carrying out the attacks, saying “he exploited the trust our uniforms are meant to represent”. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz also followed with a plea for civility, urging people to “shake hands” and “find common ground”. “One man’s unthinkable actions have altered the state of Minnesota,” he said. “This cannot be the norm. It cannot be the way that we deal with our political differences.” Prior to Mr Boelter’s arrest, his wife was detained in a traffic stop along with three relatives in a car in the city of Onamia, more than 100 miles from the family home, on Saturday morning, but released after questioning.

What is the suspect charged with?

Mr Boelter has been charged at both the state and federal level. Officials said on Monday, that the suspect faces six federal charges, some of which could lead to death penalty. At the federal level, he faces two counts of stalking, two counts of murder, and two firearms-related charges. Separately, at the state level he is charged with two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder at the state level. At a brief court appearance on Monday, Mr Boelter said he couldn’t afford a lawyer and would have a federal defence lawyer. His next court appearance is scheduled for later this month.

The suspect in the shooting of 2 Minnesota lawmakers had a ‘hit list’ of 45 officials

toggle caption Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office/AP

MINNEAPOLIS — Authorities in Minnesota said Monday that the man arrested in a Saturday attack that killed one state lawmaker and left another wounded had a “hit list” of 45 elected officials — all Democrats.

“Political assassinations are rare. They strike at the very core of our democracy,” said acting U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson for the district of Minnesota. The details of what happened, he said, are “even worse. They are truly chilling. His crimes are the stuff of nightmares.”

Vance Boelter, 57, was apprehended on Sunday night after what Brooklyn Park police Chief Mark Bruley called “the largest manhunt in state history.”

Thompson says the suspect went to the homes of four Minnesota state lawmakers “with the intent to kill them.” He said Boelter was disguised as a police officer, drove a black SUV with emergency lights turned on, and had a license plate that said “police.” He carried a 9mm handgun, wore a black tactical vest and was disguised with a realistic silicone mask. Thompson says the suspect banged on the lawmakers’ front doors in the middle of the night.

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“This was a targeted attack against individuals who answered the call to public service,” said FBI special agent in charge Alvin Winston. “Let me say this clearly: political violence has no place in this country.”

Authorities found “voluminous writings” in the suspect’s vehicle and at his home. They theorize he’d been planning and researching lawmakers for several months. Thompson says, as of now, it’s unclear why the alleged gunman carried out the attacks.

Boelter has been charged with state and federal charges of murder, attempted murder and other crimes. He’s being held in federal custody.

Bruley said at a Sunday night press conference that officers had been searching the area of Boelter’s property near the town of Green Isle when one thought they saw him “running into the woods.” After about an hour and a half, with the help of multiple SWAT teams and a State Patrol helicopter, authorities closed in on him and were “able to call him out to us.”

“Where he was ultimately taken into custody was in a field,” Bruley said, adding that Boelter was armed at the time.

Boelter was the subject of a days-long man-hunt involving hundreds of local, state and federal law enforcement after the shocking deaths of Democratic state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband. Officials say the couple were shot and killed in their Brooklyn Park, Minn., home by a man impersonating a police officer.

Earlier that same morning, Democratic state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were shot at their home in nearby Champlin, Minn. In a statement shared with Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar on Sunday night, Yvette said John “is enduring many surgeries right now and is closer every hour to being out of the woods.”

“He took 9 bullet hits,” she wrote. “I took 8 and we are both incredibly lucky to be alive.”

Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension superintendent Drew Evans told reporters on Sunday that Boelter had been charged with the Hortmans’ murders as well as the shooting of the Hoffmans. He said the FBI and and U.S. Attorney’s Office are reviewing whether to bring additional federal charges.

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What happened on Saturday

toggle caption FBI/FBI

Police say they initially responded to the shooting at Hoffman’s house, and then went to Hortman’s home. There, they saw a car with emergency lights out front, and a man at the door dressed in all blue with black body armor. Officials say that man shot at police, but was able to get away.

Authorities have yet to announce a possible motive for the attacks, but Minn. Gov. Tim Walz called the shootings “an act of targeted political violence.”

At a news conference Saturday, state police said they found a list of individuals inside what they say is Boelter’s vehicle. Hortman and Hoffman were on that list along with other lawmakers, including U.S. Senator Tina Smith and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who are also both Democrats.

Evans said Sunday that if officers hadn’t encountered Boelter at Hortman’s house, forcing him to abandon his vehicle, “I have every confidence that this would have continued throughout the day.”

Officials also said they found “No Kings” flyers in the car, a reference to the anti-Trump protests that happened around the country Saturday. Minnesota state officials urged residents to avoid the gatherings, though many still attended and the protests remained largely peaceful.

Other protests across the U.S. also remained largely peaceful, though not without incident: Police in Virginia arrested a man for recklessly driving his car through a crowd gathered to protest, hitting one person. In Texas, another man was arrested for making threats against state lawmakers there.

And on Sunday, Salt Lake City police announced the death of an “innocent bystander” who had been shot at a downtown protest, allegedly by a member of the event’s peacekeeping team who had been aiming at a different target: a person brandishing a rifle at demonstrators.

A backdrop of political violence

The shootings in Minnesota are part of a string of high-profile political violence across the country in recent years. In April, for example, a man allegedly set fire to Penn. Gov. Josh Shapiro’s home and faces charges including attempted murder, terrorism and aggravated arson.

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Last year, the Brennan Center for Justice, a policy think tank, released a report saying nearly half of the state lawmakers it surveyed had experienced threats or attacks in recent years. At the federal level, the U.S. Capitol Police has documented a spike in threats against members of Congress.

And last summer, President Trump, who has often been criticized for stoking the intense emotions that can lead to political violence in the first place, survived an assassination attempt that left his ear bloodied and killed a person in the crowd.

In a post on social media, Trump condemned the shootings in Minnesota, saying that “such horrific violence will not be tolerated in the United States of America.”

NPR’s Meg Anderson reported from Minneapolis, Rachel Treisman in Washington, D.C., and Russell Lewis in Birmingham, Ala.