A 57-year-old man has been arrested in the US state of Minnesota on suspicion of killing a Democratic state lawmaker and her husband.
The arrest on Sunday night was the culmination of a huge two-day manhunt following the deaths of Melissa Hortman, a Minnesota Democrat, and her husband Mark. State Governor Tim Walz called it a “politically motivated assassination”.
Police said Vance Luther Boelter was armed at the time of his arrest in a rural area west of Minneapolis, but gave himself up peacefully when challenged.
The suspect is also alleged to have shot and wounded Democratic State Senator John Hoffman, and his wife Yvette, who are both now awake in hospital.
Mrs Hoffman said on Sunday that both felt “incredibly lucky to be alive”.
Boelter was detained after investigators found a car he allegedly used in Sibley County, about 50 miles (80km) from the murder scene in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota.
Air and SWAT teams were deployed to arrest the suspect in what was described as the largest manhunt in Minnesota’s history.
No police officers were injured during his apprehension, and officials said they were not looking for any other suspects.
Speaking at a press conference with other local officials on Sunday night, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said the attack was an “unspeakable act” that had “altered the state of Minnesota”.
“This cannot be the norm. It cannot be the way that we deal with our political differences,” Walz said.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey praised the “skill and bravery” of law enforcement agencies following Boelter’s arrest.
“Political violence is abhorrent, it cuts against the most basic moral fabric of our democracy. It’s critical that those who commit these acts be held accountable under the law,” he added.
Boelter is accused of impersonating a police officer to carry out the attacks on Saturday, before exchanging fire with police officers and fleeing from the area of suburban Minneapolis.
Melissa Hortman had served in the Minnesota House of Representatives for 20 years, and was speaker of the chamber from 2019 to 2025.
Boelter, a former political appointee, was once a member of the same state workforce development board as Hoffman.
He is a security contractor and religious missionary who has worked in Africa and the Middle East, according to his online CV.
Boelter once preached as a pastor at a church in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to Facebook photos.
Investigators reportedly found a list of “targets” in the vehicle that the suspect is thought to have driven for the alleged shootings.
Drew Evans, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, told reporters that he would not describe the notebook found in the car as a “manifesto” as it was not “a treatise on all kinds of ideology and writings”.
Local media have reported that the names included Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, congresswoman Ilhan Omar, and state Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.
At the press conference following Boelter’s arrest, Evans did not specify who was featured on the list, but said that state officials had contacted authorities in Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Nebraska and Iowa so that they could “notify individuals that were on that list”.
