Minnesota attack suspect Vance Boelter arrested after massive manhunt

Police on Sunday night arrested Vance Boelter, the 57-year-old man accused of carrying out attacks on two Minnesota state legislators and their spouses. The attacks took place early Saturday morning on the outskirts of Minneapolis. Authorities had launched an extensive manhunt after Boelter escaped following an initial exchange of gunfire with police shortly after the assaults.

The arrest occurred in Sibley County, in a rural area near the Green Isle home where Boelter lived with his wife and children, roughly an hour’s drive from the scene of the attacks. The suspect was armed at the time of his arrest but surrendered when he realized he was surrounded. Authorities believe he acted alone but are still investigating whether he received any assistance.

“After a two-day manhunt, two sleepless nights, law enforcement have apprehended Vance Boelter,” said the police chief of Brooklyn Park, where one of the two attacks took place, during a press conference.

“There is no doubt this has been the largest police manhunt in the state’s history. At the location where he was arrested alone, there were 20 different special forces teams combing a very large area in search of this individual,” he added.

Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office posted an image of Boelter after his arrest in a message on Facebook. “The face of evil. After relentless and determined police work, the killer is now in custody. Thanks to the dedication of multiple agencies working together along with support from the community, justice is one step closer,” read the message.

“I’m grateful that this nightmare has come to an end with the suspect captured so he can be charged, prosecuted, & punished for the horror he has wrought on Minnesota,” Lisa Demuth, speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives, said in a post on X.

The suspect is currently charged with two state counts of second-degree murder and additional counts of second-degree attempted murder. Second-degree murder, which does not require premeditation, carries penalties of up to 40 years in prison. Prosecutors may modify the charges, and federal prosecutors can bring their own charges for federal crimes.

On Sunday afternoon, Drew Evans, superintendent of the Criminal Detention Office, said in another press conference that authorities had found a car they believed Boelter was using, a few miles from his home in Green Isle, in a rural area about an hour west of Minneapolis. He also said that evidence relevant to the investigation was found in the car, but did not provide further details. He added that they had received about 400 possible tips from citizens. The FBI had offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to Boelter’s arrest.

In the attacks, former Minnesota House Democratic speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were killed at their home in Brooklyn Park. State Senator John Hoffman, also a Democrat, and his wife, Yvette, were injured at their residence in Champlin, about 15 kilometers away, in what Minnesota Governor Tim Walz described as acts of political violence.

The first 911 call was made by Hope, the daughter of John and Yvette Hoffman, after both were shot multiple times. According to local TV, Yvette had thrown herself over her daughter to shield her from the bullets. Champlin police arrived at the Hoffmans’ residence at 2:05 a.m. following the call. The Minnesota governor praised the family for their “heroic actions” that “saved countless lives.”

On Sunday, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar shared a message from Yvette Hoffman expressing her gratitude for the overwhelming support they had received. “John is enduring many surgeries right now, and is closer every hour to being out of the woods,” Yvette Hoffman said in a text message Klobuchar posted on the social media platform X. “He took nine bullet hits. I took eight, and we are both incredibly lucky to be alive. 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.”

Police responded on Saturday to reports of gunfire at the Hoffmans’ home shortly after 2:00 a.m. and found the couple with multiple gunshot wounds. Upon learning the identities of the victims, police sent officers to Hortman’s house, arriving around 3:35 a.m. There, they encountered what appeared to be a police vehicle and saw Boelter shoot the congresswoman’s husband through an open door. When officers confronted him, he fired at them, and they returned fire. The suspect retreated inside the home and later escaped.

When police searched Boelter’s vehicle, they found three AK-47 assault rifles, a 9-millimeter pistol, and a list containing names and addresses of public officials. Subsequent searches in the area uncovered a bulletproof vest, a disassembled 9-millimeter firearm, a mask, and a gold police badge. Four of the firearms recovered by police had been purchased by Boelter.

U.S. media reported that the list contained about 70 potential targets, including the two attacked legislators, other Democratic congressmembers, doctors, and abortion rights activists. Authorities contacted those named on the list to warn them. The documents had some notes, but police clarified on Sunday that it was not a manifesto as such. Boelter was an extremist evangelical Christian. The attacks occurred on a day when protests against Donald Trump had been organized across the country.

Boelter worked at a security company he founded with his wife called Praetorian Guard Security Services. The company projects a paramilitary image. On the company’s website, Boelter’s wife is listed as president and CEO, while he is listed as director of security patrols. “Vance Boelter has been involved with security situations in Eastern Europe, Africa, North America and the Middle East, including the West Bank, Southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip,” reads his profile on the website.

Political violence

Amid a climate of extreme polarization and division, political violence has become increasingly frequent in the United States. During the presidential campaign, Donald Trump narrowly survived an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July of last year, escaping with minor injuries in an incident that nearly cost him his life. Authorities foiled a second assassination plot against him in Florida just weeks later.

In April of this year, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a rising star in the Democratic Party, suffered an arson attack at his official residence in Harrisburg.

Back in 2022, Paul Pelosi, husband of then-House speaker Nancy Pelosi, was hospitalized after being attacked with a hammer in their San Francisco home by a man allegedly targeting the Democratic leader.

Other instances of political violence have targeted Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who was kidnapped in 2020; Republican Representative Steve Scalise, who was shot during a baseball game in 2017; and former Democratic Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who was shot in the head in 2011.

The United States has a grim history of assassinations and political violence. Four presidents have been assassinated while in office: Abraham Lincoln (1865), James A. Garfield (1881), William McKinley (1901), and John F. Kennedy (1963). Ronald Reagan survived an assassination attempt in 1981, and Theodore Roosevelt (1912), then a former president, was wounded while campaigning for a return to office. Authorities have thwarted many other assassination plots and plans against presidents, including George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama, some of them in early stages.

Federal and state lawmakers, judges, prosecutors, governors, mayors, and social leaders have also been victims of political violence. This list includes Senator Bob Kennedy and civil rights leader Martin Luther King, who were both killed in 1968.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition