ST. PAUL — The man suspected in the political assassination of Minnesota Rep. Melissa Hortman has been federally charged, officials announced Monday.
Vance L. Boelter, 57, is charged with stalking Hortman and Sen. John Hoffman, the murders of Melissa and Mark Hortman, and firearms offenses for the shootings of the Hortmans and of John and Yvette Hoffman.
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Boelter also went to the home of two other legislators in between the shootings of the Hortmans and the Hoffmans, said Acting U.S. Attorney for Minnesota Joseph Thompson. The legislator in Maple Grove wasn’t home and an officer encountered Boelter in New Hope, after which he left.
Thompson called the shootings “targeted political assassinations the likes of which have never been seen in Minnesota.”
The shootings “have shocked the nation and united us in grief,” U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a Monday statement. “These horrific acts of violence will not go unanswered: the Department of Justice will prosecute this suspect to the fullest extent of the law and if convicted deliver severe consequences for his alleged crimes.”
‘Planned campaign of … violence’
Boelter “embarked on a planned campaign of stalking and violence, designed to inflict fear, injure, and kill members of the Minnesota state legislature and their families,” said the federal criminal complaint unsealed against him Monday. “After taking deliberate steps to research his victims and prepare for that campaign, Boelter traveled to the homes of at least four public officials” in the early morning hours of Saturday.
Boelter was “disguised as a police officer, and heavily armed with firearms and body armor,” the complaint continued. “Boelter approached those officials’ homes under the guise of lawful authority.”
Boelter was also charged over the weekend in Hennepin County District with murder and attempted murder. The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office announced Monday they will seek first-degree murder charges against him.
Boelter, who was captured Sunday night after a two-day manhunt, is accused in the early Saturday homicides of the Hortmans at their Brooklyn Park home and the shootings that injured the Hoffmans at their Champlin home.
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Research, purchases
The federal complaint against Boelter gives the following information:
Boelter made lists with the names and addresses of many Minnesota public officials, “mostly or all Democrats.” He used websites to search for home addresses and family member names.
“He found websites that sold hyper-realistic silicone masks, which look like the mask Boelter wore during” at least the shootings of Hoffman and his wife. He purchased flashlights and materials to create a fake “Police” license plate that was found on Boelter’s vehicle.
Shone flashlight, so victims couldn’t see him
Video from Hoffman’s home showed Boelter went to the front door wearing a black tactical vest and holding a flashlight. A flesh-colored mask covered his entire head. He knocked on the door and shouted repeatedly, “This is the police. Open the door,” the complaint said of what the footage showed.
One or both of the Hoffmans opened the door, and Boelter said there had been a shooting reported inside the home, and asked whether the Hoffmans had any guns. John Hoffman said all their firearms were locked away.
Yvette Hoffman told law enforcement that Boelter had been shining a flashlight toward them, impairing their view of him, but she realized at some point he was wearing a mask. One or both of the Hoffmans told Boelter that he was not a real officer, and he responded by saying something like, “This is a robbery.”
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John Hoffman tried to push Boelter backward through the front door, at which point Boelter shot him repeatedly. Yvette Hoffman tried to shut the door on Boelter to close him out of the house, but he then shot her.
The Hoffmans’ daughter called 911 to report her parents had been shot.
The couple was hospitalized with multiple gunshot wounds, and their conditions have stabilized.
‘Their quick action saved my life’
Boelter then went to the Maple Grove home of a Minnesota elected representative. Video from her home showed Boelter repeatedly ringing the doorbell at 2:24 a.m. He wore a black tactical vest and a badge, and loudly said, “This is the police. Open the door. … We have a warrant,” the complaint said.
The legislator told law enforcement that she and her family weren’t home at the time.
While Thompson did not name her or the other legislator whose home Boelter went to, Sen. Ann Rest, a Democrat representing the west metro suburb of New Hope, issued a statement Monday saying she is the New Hope legislator whose home Boelter was spotted outside.
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“I have been made aware that the shooting suspect was parked near my home early Saturday morning,” Rest said. “I am so grateful for the heroic work of the New Hope Police Department and its officers. Their quick action saved my life.”
Local law enforcement conducted a safety check at Rest’s house after learning of the shooting at the Hoffmans’ home, according to the federal charge against Boelter.
When a police officer arrived around 2:30 a.m., she saw an SUV resembling a police vehicle parked down the street from Rest’s house and believed it was law enforcement protection for the senator.
The officer drove by the vehicle and saw what appeared to be a bald white man sitting in the driver’s seat staring straight ahead. The officer tried to talk to the person, now believed to be Boelter, but he did not respond.
The officer then drove to Rest’s house, “saw no signs of distress” and waited for more officers to join her, according to the criminal complaint. The SUV resembling a police vehicle had left the area before more backup arrived.
Authorities believe Boelter visited a state representative in Maple Grove before driving to Rest’s home in New Hope. Rep. Kristin Bahner is the only Democratic representative in Maple Grove, though she didn’t immediately respond to requests for confirmation.
Dressed as a police officer and wearing a rubber mask, Boelter repeatedly rang the doorbell at the Maple Grove lawmaker’s home at 2:24 a.m. and said he was a police officer with a warrant, but no one was home, according to the complaint.
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Fatal shootings followed
At 3:30 a.m., Brooklyn Park officers went to check on Hortman after hearing about the shootings at the home of Sen. Hoffman. They saw a black SUV parked outside the Hortman home with police-style lights that were on and flashing.
The SUV’s license plate had been replaced with a fake license plate that said “Police.”
Officers saw Boelter standing near the front door. “Moments after their arrival on scene, Boelter fired several gunshots into the house as he moved forward, entering the Hortmans’ home,” the complaint said.
In dashcam footage, moments after Boelter moved into the house, a second set of gunshots could be heard.
Officers moved to the home’s front doorway and saw Mark Hortman lying on the floor. He’d been shot multiple times, and officers tried to provide medical aid.
They also found Melissa Hortman had been shot multiple times, and the family’s dog was gravely injured.
Boelter fled from the home and left his SUV behind.
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