Governor Tim Walz has characterized the shootings as a “politically motivated.” The arrest concludes a nearly two-day manhunt for the shooter who posed as a police officer.
A man suspected of killing a lawmaker in Minnesota and wounding another was taken into custody Sunday evening, police said.
The arrest concludes the nearly two-day manhunt that put the midwestern state on edge.
“After a two-day manhunt, two sleepless nights, law enforcement have apprehended Vance Boelter,” Governor Tim Walz said at a press conference after the arrest. “One man’s unthinkable actions have altered the state of Minnesota.”
“A moment in this country where we watch violence erupt, this cannot be the norm. It cannot be the way that we deal with our political differences. Now is the time for us to recommit to the core values of this country, and each and every one of us can do it,” he said.
Walz has previously called the shooting a “politically motivated assassination.”
Shooter posed as police officer
Police said that a man, posing as a police officer, shot and killed former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in their Brooklyn Park home early Saturday in the northern Minneapolis suburbs.
Before the arrest, authorities had said they had found a car, hat and other items belonging to the suspected shooter. The man had fled on foot early on Saturday when officers confronted him at Hortman’s home.
Police say this was the same person who shot and injured Senator John Hoffman, also a Democrat, and his wife at their home nine miles (14 kilometers) away.
Hoffman was undergoing surgery after being hit with nine bullets, according to a text message his wife sent to Democrat Senator Amy Klobuchar.
“We are both incredibly lucky to be alive,” his wife, Yvette Hoffman, said in the message that was shared on social media.
What do we know about the shooter?
Friends and family of the suspected shooter said he was deeply religious and went to campaign rallies for US President Donald Trump.
In the car, officials found fliers for a local ‘No Kings’ rally scheduled for Saturday and a notebook with name of other lawmakers. This list also included names of abortion rights activists and healthcare officials, the Associated Press reported citing unnamed police officials.
Both Hortman and Hoffman have defended abortion rights in the state legislature.
Drew Evans, Superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, had earlier said that the suspect was not believed to have made any public threats before the attacks.
As for the motivation of the shootings, he said, “We often want easy answers for complex problems. Those answers will come as we complete the full picture of our investigation.”
Edited by: Wesley Dockery and Zac Crellin
DW News
