A manhunt is underway for 57-year-old Vance Luther Boelter, the suspect in the fatal shooting of a Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband.
Democratic former state House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were killed in their Brooklyn Park home.
State Sen. John Hoffman, also a Democrat, and his wife, Yvette, were injured at their Champlin address, about nine miles away.
Drew Evans, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said at an afternoon news conference that authorities were looking for Boelter and he had not yet been caught.
The FBI issued a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to his arrest and conviction.
Authorities displayed a photo of Boelter wearing a tan cowboy hat that was taken Saturday and asked the public to report sightings. Evans said investigators obtained video as well.
He did not give details on a possible motive.
The Minnesota shooting
Law enforcement officials said the gunman attacked the Hoffmans at around 2 a.m. CDT and then drove about five miles to the Hortmans’ residence.
Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley said that a “very intuitive” police sergeant who responded to the Hoffman attack asked colleagues to “proactively” check the Hortmans’ residence.
The two officers arriving at the Hortmans’ residence saw what appeared to be a police vehicle parked in the driveway with its emergency lights on and an individual dressed and equipped as a police officer leaving the home, he said.
The suspect “immediately fired upon the officers, who exchanged gunfire and the suspect retreated back into the home,” Bruley continued.
The suspect, who was wearing a vest with a Taser, other police equipment and a badge, is believed to have fled from the rear of the home, he said.
Former political appointee
Boelter is a former political appointee who served on the same state workforce development board as Hoffman, state records show, though it was not clear if or how well they knew each other.
Boelter was appointed to the workforce development board by then-Gov. Mark Dayton in 2016 and then reappointed in 2019 by the current governor to a four-year term that expired in 2023, state records show.
Praetorian Guard Security Services LLC
State corporate records show Boelter’s wife filed to create a company called Praetorian Guard Security Services LLC with the same Green Isle mailing address listed for the couple. On a website for the business, Boelter’s wife is listed as president and CEO, while he is listed as director of security patrols.
The homepage says it provides armed security for property and events and features a photo of an SUV painted in a two-tone black and silver pattern similar to a police vehicle, with a light bar across the roof and “Praetorian” painted across the doors.
Another photo shows a man in black tactical gear with a military-style helmet and a ballistic vest with the company’s name across the front.
An online resume says Boelter is a security contractor who has worked in the Middle East and Africa, in addition to past managerial roles at companies in Minnesota.