Vance Boelter captured, charged in shootings of Minnesota lawmakers
Arrest in Sibley County ends 'largest manhunt in state history'
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Gov. Tim Walz and law enforcement authorities briefed reporters Sunday evening just before 11 p.m. following the capture of Vance Boelter. Here’s what they said:
Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension superintendent Drew Evans said Boelter has been charged in the shootings and that the case will be reviewed for possible federal charges.
He said had Brooklyn Park officers not confronted Boelter at House DFL leader Melissa Hortman’s home early Saturday morning, he likely would have “continued throughout the day … He was forced to abandon his plan,” adding that Boelter’s list of possible targets included people in Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan.
Evans said authorities were confident Boelter acted alone in “the violence he committed.” He said Boelter was armed when he was arrested.
Vance Boelter on Sunday, June 15, 2025, at the Hennepin County Jail.Courtesy of the Hennepin County JailBrooklyn Park police Chief Mark Bruley described the search for Boelter as “the largest manhunt in state history.” Searching near Boelter’s Sibley County property, an officer thought they saw him rush into the woods. Bruley said authorities hurried to set up a perimeter and with the help of technology and a State Patrol helicopter, they were able to call him out of the woods and into a field.
“This is a very dangerous individual for our communities,” Bruley said, adding that the work of looking at a motive for the killings continues.
Walz praised law enforcement for capturing Boelter. He mourned Hortman, saying, “One man’s unthinkable actions have altered the state of Minnesota.” He vowed to “put every ounce of energy the state of Minnesota has to make sure that justice is served.”
Walz, who’d said on Saturday that Hortman’s shooting appeared to be a “politically motivated assassination” pleaded on Sunday for civility in American life. “This cannot be the norm. It cannot be the way we deal with our political differences.”
Boelter was booked into the Hennepin County Jail just after 1 a.m. Monday, pending an initial court appearance scheduled for Monday afternoon.
Massive manhunt
Boelter had been the subject of an extensive, multiday manhunt after he allegedly shot and killed Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, early Saturday morning at the Hortmans’ home in Brooklyn Park. He is also believed to have shot and wounded state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, at their home in Champlin.
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Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher posted a photo of Boelter on social media after the arrest.
Fletcher wrote that Boelter was arrested “after relentless and determined police work.”
“Thanks to the dedication of multiple agencies working together along with support from the community, justice is one step closer.”
The FBI had offered a $50,000 award for information that leads to Boelter's arrest. He was considered armed and dangerous.
Search expanded Sunday beyond Twin Cities
Residents in Sibley County received an emergency alert at around 10:30 a.m. Sunday morning telling them to lock their homes and vehicles. It said authorities found a car police believe was used by Boelter in Saturday's shootings targeting Minnesota state lawmakers.
The alert said the suspect was not found and that authorities will be going door-to-door to search residences in the area.
MPR News partner KARE 11 reported that law enforcement in the area also found a cowboy hat believed to be worn by the suspect Saturday morning after the shootings.
Authorities said Boelter allegedly impersonated a police officer when he went to the lawmakers’ homes Saturday and drove an SUV that looked like a law enforcement vehicle.
That vehicle was abandoned following the shooting at the Hortman’s home when Boelter was confronted by police, with authorities saying he apparently fled the scene on foot.
The FBI was offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Boelter — and said it’s using “every available resource” to find him.
A shelter-in-place order was issued for much of Brooklyn Park on Saturday morning as hundreds of law enforcement officers searched for Boelter. It was lifted later in the day, with authorities saying they believed he had left the area.
Officials said he was seen in business surveillance video Saturday morning wearing a light-colored cowboy hat, dark-colored, long-sleeved, collared shirt or jacket, light pants and dark bag.
Suspect’s family involved in traffic stop
Hours after the shootings, Mille Lacs County Sheriff Kyle Burton said deputies from his office assisted law enforcement from Hennepin County on a traffic stop near a convenience store in the city of Onamia. Burton said Boelter’s wife was in the car along with several other relatives. Burton said his officers did not question or search any of the people. It is unclear if they were further detained or cooperating with authorities.
Authorities said investigators found what they called a manifesto, including a list of names of politicians and others, that appears to be connected to Boelter. But at an earlier news conference Saturday afternoon, Evans with the BCA declined to speak about a possible motive.
Other lawmakers put on alert
State Sen. Jim Abeler, a Republican from Anoka, said he was awakened by local police early Saturday morning conducting a wellness check.
“They knocked on the door at 3 o'clock yesterday morning,” Abeler told MPR News on Sunday. “So I went out there in my pajamas, opened the door and here's these police guys. Two policemen from Anoka.”
Abeler says his name was not on what law enforcement is calling a manifesto. Anoka is just north of Champlin, where Hoffman lives.
Abeler and Hoffman are long-time colleagues and have worked on parts of the Health and Human Services budget over several years. He said he’s looking forward to welcoming Hoffman back to the Capitol.
“We just all want him back,” he said.
Speaking with NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Minnesota U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar said authorities believe Boelter is still in the Midwest — noting that in addition to the search underway in Minnesota, an alert was also issued in South Dakota.
“Right now everyone’s on edge here. Because we know that this man will kill at a second. We also know that he is clearly off-balance from the manifesto, on some of his writings, some of the things that he has said recently — that he is someone that no one should mess with except for law enforcement,” Klobuchar said.
Boelter lived in Green Isle — southwest of the Twin Cities — but also rented a room at a home in north Minneapolis.
KARE 11 reported that one of Boelter’s roommates at that home and a longtime friend, David Carlson, reported receiving a text message from Boelter early Saturday. Boelter allegedly told his friend that he would be gone for a while, and “may be dead shortly.”
Remembering the victims
Flags are at half-staff across Minnesota in honor of Melissa Hortman. Gov. Tim Walz issued that order Saturday afternoon, calling Hortman “a great leader.”
“Melissa Hortman woke up every day determined to make our state a better place,” Walz said in the order. “She served the people of Minnesota with grace, compassion, and tirelessness.”
“She was a bright shining light of a human being,” Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon said. “Minnesotans lost a really important and impactful leader.”
Hortman and her husband had two adult children. Their home in Brooklyn Park is a short drive from the Hoffmans’ home in Champlin.
The Hoffmans were reported in stable condition on Saturday morning. Their nephew Mat Ollig said Yvette Hoffman was awake and alert as of Saturday night. U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar said she had been told that Sen. Hoffman was in stable condition during an interview with Meet The Press on Sunday.
Investigators said Sen. Hoffman was shot 9 times and Yvette Hoffman was shot 8 times.
Ollig described the couple as “true civil servants.”
“They just give everything they can to help other people, and that’s what makes this even more shocking,” he said. “They’re not hyperpartisan. I’m still in shock that this could happen to such nice people in such a nice state.”
Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin — the former longtime chairman of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party — issued a statement following the shootings saying “my heart is broken.”
“Melissa, Mark, John and Yvette — these are not just names, and this is not just politics. These are people,” Martin said. “They have children, loved ones, neighbors, and friends.”
“Today, we recommit ourselves to fight harder for the values that Melissa and Mark embodied — building a kinder, more just, and loving world. If this murderer thinks we will be silenced, he’s wrong.”
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story misstated the number of times the Hoffmans were shot.
