A former appointee of Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is being sought in connection with the assassination of a state lawmaker and the shooting of another, police sources said.
Vance Luther Boelter allegedly posed as a police officer when he shot Sen. John Hoffman and his wife in their Champlin home early Saturday, leaving them seriously injured before moving on to former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman’s house, where he is believed to have slaughtered her and her husband, sources told The Post.
The killer is still on the loose despite exchanging gunfire with officers who responded to Hortman’s home and briefly cornered him inside.
He left behind a “manifesto” listing the names of 70 politicians, including Walz and his Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, and a stack of papers stating “No Kings” in reference to the nationwide anti-Trump protests, according to police.
The apparent hit list included abortion providers, clinics and Planned Parenthood, sources told The Post. Both of the Democrats he targeted were pro-choice.
Police are weighing whether Boetler held extreme anti-abortion views, sources said.
Hortman was virulently pro-choice and led the Minnesota House in passing the PRO Act in 2023, which codified the legality of abortion and other forms of reproductive health care. She also boosted funding for abortion clinics and passed protections for providers.
Officials were mum on the motives — though it came just five days after Hortman sided with Republican leaders as the lone Democrat to cut access to state health benefits for illegal immigrants in the North Star State.
Walz early on said the attack was clearly a “politically motivated assassination.” President Trump also reiterated the likely political motivations, but did not divulge any details.
“I have been briefed on the terrible shooting that took place in Minnesota, which appears to be a targeted attack against State Lawmakers,” he wrote on Truth Social.
“Our Attorney General, Pam Bondi, and the FBI, are investigating the situation, and they will be prosecuting anyone involved to the fullest extent of the law. Such horrific violence will not be tolerated in the United States of America. God Bless the great people of Minnesota, a truly great place!”
The gunman first arrived at Hoffman’s Champlin home just outside Minneapolis, leaving the couple seriously hurt before moving on to Hortman’s house, officials said.
After responding to Hoffman’s home, Champlin police notified their counterparts in nearby Brooklyn Park, where Melissa Hortman, 55, resides, alerting them to check on the lawmaker, police Chief Mark Bruley said at a Saturday news conference.
“When they arrived at Melissa’s house, they noticed that there was a police vehicle in the driveway with the emergency lights on and what appeared to be a police officer at the door coming out of the house,” Bruley said, adding that the suspect was wearing a vest, a badge and other equipment, such as a Taser, “very similar to mine.”
“When our officers confronted him, the individual immediately fired upon the officers, who exchanged gunfire, and the suspect retreated back into the home,” he continued.
“It was not a real police officer. This is someone that clearly had been impersonating a police officer who uses the trust of this badge and this uniform to manipulate their way into the home.”
The suspect managed to flee, said authorities, who called the shootings “targeted.”
Melissa Hortman was declared dead at the scene.
Her husband, Mark, died as first responders tried to deliver life-saving measures.
The couple had two children.
The family’s beloved golden retriever, Gilbert, was also shot, sources told Mint. It is not clear whether he was killed.
The Hoffmans, who were each pumped with multiple bullets, were rushed into surgery and are in stable condition, officials said.
A manhunt is on for the suspect, who was wearing black body armor over a blue shirt and blue pants.
Eerie security footage shows the killer walking up to the Hoffman home dressed like a police officer and wearing a cowboy hat.
He was seen banging on the front door with a flashlight in hand.
Boelter, 57, is being sought as a person of interest, police sources told The Post.
He and his wife ran Praetorian Guard Security Services, an armed security service that charged $2,400 per month for its top-tier membership, which offered “8 random armed patrols each week of your property.”
He was twice appointed to posts by Democratic governors, serving on the Workforce Development Council in 2016 under then-Gov. Mark Dayton, and appointed by Walz in 2019 to serve a four-year stint on the Workforce Development Board, documents show.
In his early-morning remarks, Walz did not reveal that the suspect was his own appointee.
The Governor’s Office later stated that the 60-person board Boetler served on was unpaid and bipartisan — but a 2019 document shows Walz signed off on Boetler’s appointment “because of the special trust and confidence I have in your integrity, judgment, and ability.”
Despite serving under Dems, Boelter last registered to vote in 2022, as a Republican.
In 2019, he wrote an impassioned post on LinkedIn urging his followers to vote in the election, but avoided choosing a candidate or party.
“I am very big on just telling people to be a part of the process and vote your values and be part of this adventure we are all a part of living in the United States of America,” he wrote.
“I think the election is going to have more of an impact on the direction of our country than probably any election we have been apart of, or will be apart of for years to come.”.
There were numerous “No Kings” protests planned for Minnesota, as well as the rest of the country. Organizers described it as “a national day of action and mass mobilization in response to the increasing authoritarian excesses and corruption of the Trump administration.”
“Given the targeted shootings of state lawmakers overnight, we are asking the public to not attend today’s planned demonstrations across Minnesota out of an abundance of caution,” the Minnesota State Patrol said on Facebook.
Hortman had served in the state House of Representatives since 2004, was minority leader from 2017 to 2019, and worked as the speaker from 2019 through February. The progressive prochoice Democrat often spoke out in favor of trans rights.
Just five days before the murders, Hortman faced intense criticism for voting to cut access to state health benefits for illegal immigrants in Minnesota.
She was the only Democrat to side with Republicans, providing the GOP with the carrying vote. Walz indicated he intends to sign the measure when it lands on his desk.
The vote came after weeks of negotiations for a budget compromise, and the GOP made it clear they would not be satisfied without the MinnesotaCare repeal.
Hortman was reduced to tears after she cast her affirmative vote, saying: “I know that people will be hurt by that vote and we worked very hard to get a budget deal that didn’t include that provision,” adding that she understood her fellow caucus members were frustrated with her decision.
“They’re right to be mad at me,” she said, “I think some of them are pretty, pretty angry. I think that their job was to make folks who voted for that bill feel like crap, and I think that they succeeded.”
Hoffman, 60, was one of 16 who did not approve the measure on the state Senate side.
Cops ordered a shelter-in-place for the three-mile radius surrounding the Edinburgh Golf Course near Melissa Hortman’s home.
“Police are looking for a suspect in multiple targeted shootings who is armed and dangerous,” Brooklyn Park Police said in an emergency alert sent to residents at 5:30 a.m.
“Suspect is white male, brown hair, wearing black body armor over blue shirt and blue pants and may misrepresent himself as law enforcement.”
US Sen. Amy Klobuchar said she was “heartbroken and horrified” by Hortman’s death.
“She was a true public servant to the core, dedicating her life to serving Minnesotans with integrity and compassion,” Klobuchar wrote on X.
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