Man Accused of Shooting 2 Minnesota Lawmakers in Custody After Surrendering

Law enforcement stage  in Green Isle, Minnesota. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images via the North Dakota Monitor)

(North Dakota Monitor) – Law enforcement officers on Sunday night arrested Vance Boelter, who is accused of assassinating Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband at their home in Brooklyn Park as part of a larger plot to kill Democratic elected officials and other advocates of abortion rights

Boelter is also accused of shooting Democratic-Farmer-Labor state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, at their home in Champlin. Both Hoffmans survived the shooting, but received surgeries for their injuries and remain hospitalized.

The arrest comes after a 43-hour manhunt — the largest in state history, according to Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley. Law enforcement officers had been searching all day after locating Boelter’s abandoned vehicle near Green Isle, where Boelter has a home.

At the time of his arrest, Boelter was armed, but ultimately surrendered. Officers did not use any force, said Lt. Col. Jeremy Geiger of the Minnesota State Patrol.

In the state’s new Emergency Operations Center in Blaine — which was paid for by legislation passed by Hortman’s DFL-controlled House in 2020 — Gov. Tim Walz thanked law enforcement and decried political violence and hateful rhetoric.

“This cannot be the norm. It cannot be the way that we deal with our political differences,” Walz said. “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. Talk to a neighbor rather than argue, debate an issue, shake hands, find common ground.”