MINNEAPOLIS--Police were conducting a massive manhunt in Minnesota on Sunday for the gunman who killed a Democratic state lawmaker while posing as a police officer, a crime that Governor Tim Walz characterized as a "politically motivated assassination."
The suspect, whom police identified as Vance Luther Boelter, 57, fled on foot early on Saturday when officers confronted him at the Brooklyn Park home of state Representative Melissa Hortman, the top Democrat in the Minnesota House, and her husband, Mark, who were both killed.
The gunman earlier had shot and wounded another Democratic lawmaker, state Senator John Hoffman, and his wife Yvette at their home a few miles away, authorities said.
Minnesota U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat, said on NBC's "Meet the Press with Kristen Welker" on Sunday morning that investigators believe Boelter is still in the region.
Authorities in Sibley County, about an hour by car southwest of Minneapolis, issued an alert on Sunday saying they had found the suspect's car in Faxon Township and instructing residents to keep their doors and cars locked, the county sheriff's office confirmed. Officers were searching residences in the area.
The location of the car is about four miles (6.4 km) east of Boelter's listed home address in Green Isle, also in Sibley County, which was searched by law enforcement officers on Saturday.
The gunman had left behind a vehicle outside Hortman's house in suburban Minneapolis that resembled a police SUV, including flashing lights, and contained a target list of other politicians and institutions, officials said.Authorities had not publicly identified a specific motive as of Saturday evening.
Boelter has links to evangelical ministries and claimed to be a security expert with experience in the Gaza Strip and Africa, according to online postings and public records reviewed by Reuters. The Minnesota Star Tribune, citing law enforcement officials, reported the target list included abortion providers and several dozen Minnesota Democrats, including Walz, who was also the Democratic vice presidential candidate last year, and Klobuchar, a 2020 presidential candidate.
"There clearly was some through line with abortion, because of the groups that were on the list. So that was one of his motivations," Klobuchar said.
The killing was the latest in a series of high-profile episodes of U.S. political violence, including the attack on former Democratic U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband at their home in 2022, the attempted assassination of Donald Trump during last year's presidential campaign, and an arson attack at Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro's house in April.
