(KNSI) – Saturday’s politically motivated shootings were described as “the stuff of nightmares” by Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson at a press conference to announce charges against the suspect.
Officials revealed that 57-year-old Vance Boelter will face federal charges of stalking Minnesota House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and state Senator John Hoffman and will answer for a count of murdering Hortman and her husband using a firearm, along with the attempted murder of Senator Hoffman and his wife, Yvette.
Thompson laid out Boelter’s timeline, saying he attempted to visit four DFL lawmakers and their families on Saturday. The first were the Hoffmans in Champlin. Thompson describes what happened: “Senator Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, came to the door. When they opened the door, Boelter shined the flashlight in their faces and said there had been a shooting reported in the house. Boelter asked if they had any weapons.
“When Boelter lowered his flashlight, which he had shined in their face, they realized that he was not a police officer. They shouted, ‘You’re not a cop. You’re not a police officer.’ Boelter then announced, ‘This is a robbery,’ and forced himself into their home.”
The Hoffmans were shot a combined 17 times.
Boelter then allegedly attempted to go to Maple Grove to gun down another lawmaker, but the family was not home. Boelter followed up by visiting the home of a New Hope senator but was intercepted by police. U.S. Attorney Thompson relayed the unusual encounter, saying when the New Hope officer arrived at the scene, she saw Boelter’s black SUV parked down the block, with the lights on.
“The New Hope police officer believed that Boelter was a police officer who had been dispatched to the scene to check on the status of the state senator. The New Hope police officer pulled up next to Boelter in his car, rolled down her window, and attempted to speak with him. Boelter did not respond. According to the officer, he just sat there and stared straight ahead, so, the New Hope police officer, who had been dispatched to the scene, proceeded to the state senator’s home, and she waited for other law enforcement to arrive.”
Thompson says Boelter left, moving down his list, when Brooklyn Park Police caught up with him at Speaker Emerita Hortman’s front door. An investigation is still underway to determine how the shooting began between Boelter and the officers. He then allegedly shot through the front door, crashed inside, and gunned down both Hortman and her husband. The speaker died at the scene. Mark was pronounced dead at the hospital.
According to court documents, Boelter was able to evade the officers and stopped by the Minneapolis home where he rents a room, before eventually winding up at his home in Green Isle, roughly 60 miles away. His Buick was found on the side of the road Sunday in Sibley County off Highway 25. He was arrested later that evening after an extensive manhunt.
Thompson relayed that law enforcement found several notebooks filled with information on the targets, their addresses, what he witnessed while doing stakeouts at their homes, and other information that would help him carry out as many attacks as possible. Boelter had apparently been planning this for months.
Prosecutors say they believe they can make the case Boelter’s actions were premeditated and rise to the level of first-degree murder.
Thompson commended law enforcement agencies for the quick welfare checks, which were done before the threat was fully understood. He says they likely saved several lives and that professionalism extended to the manhunt that followed.
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