Man suspected of shooting Minnesota lawmakers crawled to police after huge manhunt

A man was arrested for suspicion of having killed a legislator of the Democratic State and her husband, after a two -day man hunt in the American state of Minnesota.

The pursuit ended in a rural wooded area west of Minneapolis, where he went peacefully and ended up crawling towards the police, the police said.

Vance Luther Boelter, 57, is accused of having killed Melissa Hortman, a Minnesota democrat, and her husband Mark. State governor Tim Walz called him “assassination with political motivation”.

He would also have pulled and injured the senator from the Democratic State John Hoffman, and his wife Yvette, who are both now awake in the hospital.

Ms. Hoffman said on Sunday that the two felt “incredibly lucky to be alive” because they had been affected by 17 balls between them.

She and her husband had been “emptied and devastated” by the death of the Hortmans, added Ms. Hoffman in her declaration. “We have no words,” she wrote. “There is never a place for this kind of political hatred.”

Mr. Boelter faces two second degree murder leaders and two chiefs of attempted murder in the second degree. He should appear before the Minneapolis court at 1:30 p.m. local time (2:30 p.m. Hae; 6.30 p.m. GMT) on Monday.

The suspect is a former policy named politician and was once a member of the same council for the development of the state labor as John Hoffman. However, it is not clear if they really knew each other.

Police did not suggest what the alleged killer’s reason could have been, but state senator Amy Klobuchar joined Governor Walz suggesting that the attacks were politically motivated.

Managers said on Sunday that Vance Luther Boelter was detained after the investigators had found a car he used in Sibley County, about 80 kilometers (80 km) from the Brooklyn Park murder scene.

Air teams and Swat were deployed to stop the suspect, following a huge manhunt described as the biggest in the history of Minnesota.

No policeman was injured during his apprehension, and the officials said they were not looking for any other suspect. Mr. Boelter’s wife was previously detained in a traffic stop, but was released because she cooperated with the investigators.

Speaking at a press conference with other local officials on Sunday evening, Governor Walz said that the attack was an “unspeakable act” which had “changed the state of Minnesota”.

“This cannot be the norm. It cannot be the way we manage our political differences,” said Walz.

The mayor of Minneapolis Jacob Frey praised the “skills and bravery” of the law enforcement organizations after the suspect’s arrest. “Political violence is odious,” he added.

Vance Luther Boelter is accused of having usurped the identity of a police officer to carry out attacks on Saturday, before exchanging fire with police officers and fleeing the suburbs.

Melissa Hortman had served the Minnesota House of Representatives for 20 years and was a speaker of the Chamber from 2019 to 2025.

In addition to having a certain political involvement, Mr. Boelter is an entrepreneur in security and religious missionary who worked in Africa and the Middle East, said his CV online. According to photos of Facebook, he preached once as a church pastor in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Investigators would have found a list of “targets” in the vehicle he would have led for the alleged shots.

Drew Evans, superintendent of Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, told journalists that he would not describe the notebook found in the car as a “manifesto” because it was not “a treaty on all kinds of ideology and writings”.

The local media reported that the names included Governor Walz, MP Ilhan Omar and the Attorney General of Minnesota, Keith Ellison.

At the Sunday’s press conference, Evans did not specify who was presented on the list, but said that state officials had contacted the authorities of Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Nebraska and Iowa so that they could “inform the individuals who were on this list”.

Sunday, the declaration of Ms. Hoffman also offered an update on the state of her husband. “John hardens many surgeries right now and is closer to all hours to be out of the woods,” she wrote.

The striker would have targeted the Hoffmans for the first time – at their home in Champlin, around 02:00, local time on Saturday.

A publication on Facebook of someone who identifies himself as the nephew of Mrs. Hoffman said that she had thrown herself on her daughter during the assassination attempt, “using her body as a shield to save her life”.

Shortly after the attack on the Hoffmans eight miles away, the Hortmans were slaughtered at their home in Brooklyn Park.

Residents told the BBC their shock. Taha Abuisnaineh, who lives on the other side of the street, said that he and his wife have known the Hortman family for over 20 years.

“They were very nice neighbors in a very quiet area,” he said. “You don’t see any police activity in this neighborhood. We are very shocked.”

Another resident said that she and her husband had received an annual Hortmans Christmas card.

“What a big loss for Minnesota,” she said.