The man who allegedly gunned down a state lawmaker and her husband in Minnesota, and left another lawmaker and his wife wounded, visited at least two other homes on the night of his rampage, officials said on June 16.
Vance Boelter, dressed somewhat like a law enforcement officer, with a tactical vest and body armor along with a silicon mask, started early Saturday at the Champlin home of state Sen. John Hoffman, where he shot the couple, Joseph Thompson, Minnesota’s acting U.S. attorney, told a press conference on Monday.
Boelter then allegedly went to the home of a Minnesota state representative, who has not been publicly named. Surveillance footage showed Boelter ringing the doorbell at about 2:24 a.m. Saturday. The family was on vacation. When no one answered the door, Boelter departed, according to Thompson.
Boelter then went to the house of another state senator, in New Hope, officials said. Boelter allegedly parked in the street in a black sports utility vehicle, sporting a police license plate, at about 2:36 a.m. After learning about the shooting of the Hoffmans, a local police officer was dispatched to conduct a wellness check on the senator, and she parked near Boelter and tried speaking with him.
“He just sat there and stared straight ahead,” Thompson said.
The officer mistook Boelter for a fellow officer, so she proceeded to the senator’s home, according to Thompson. By the time other officers arrived, Boelter had left, he said.
The suspect allegedly went on to the home of state Rep. Melissa Hortman, the top Democrat in the Minnesota House of Representatives. He arrived at about 3:30 a.m., authorities said, and parked in the driveway, with his vehicle’s emergency lights flashing.
Before Boelter entered the home, two local officers were said to have arrived on the scene to check on Hortman. Boelter started firing his gun at the officers, then rushed into the home, where he allegedly murdered Hortman and her husband, according to state and federal charging documents.
Officers later recovered notebooks from Boelter’s vehicle that included a list of more than 45 state and federal elected officials, according to Thompson.
“He researched his victims and their families. He used the Internet and other tools to find their addresses and names, the names of the family members. He conducted surveillance of their homes and took notes about the location of their homes,” Thompson said.
Thompson said that Boelter appeared to write in the notebooks over the course of at least months.
“It’s pretty clear from the evidence that he’s been planning these attacks for quite some time,” he said.
Officials still aren’t sure about the suspect’s motivation.
“I have not seen anything involving some sort of political screed or manifesto that would clearly identify what motivated him,” the federal prosecutor said.
“Obviously, his primary motive was to go out and murder people. Now, they were all elected officials. They were all Democrats. Beyond that, I think it’s just way too speculative for anyone that’s reviewed these materials to know and to say what was motivating him in terms of ideology or specific issues.”
Boelter was appointed to a state workforce board in 2016 by then-Gov. Mark Dayton and reappointed in 2019 by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, both Democrats.
Boelter does not have an attorney listed on the federal or state court dockets. He has applied for a public defender, according to one filing. Messages sent to Boelter’s security firm have not been returned.
Boelter faces up to life in prison over federal charges, including murder. He could ultimately face the death penalty, prosecutors said.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said it charged Boelter with second-degree intentional murder and will seek first-degree murder charges, a crime that carries a penalty of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
