Authorities have identified the suspect in a pair of targeted shootings of lawmakers and their spouses that rocked Minnesota early Saturday as 57-year-old Vance Boelter.
Boelter is accused of killing former state House Speaker Melissa Hortman, a Democrat of Brooklyn Park, and her husband, and seriously wounding Democratic state Sen. John Hoffman of Champlin and his wife in separate, targeted home invasions early June 14.
“We are asking for the public’s help at this point in time in locating Vance Luther Boelter,” Drew Evans, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension,
said at a June 14 press briefing. Evans asked anyone who spots Boelter, described as a 6'1” tall 220-pound white male with brown hair and brown eyes, to call 911 immediately.
“Do not attempt to approach him. You should consider him armed and dangerous,” Evans said.
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety has
opened a tip line, which includes a description indicating Boelter was last spotted wearing a light-colored cowboy hat, a dark-colored, long-sleeved, collared shirt or jacket, light pants, and a dark bag.
Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley told reporters at an
earlier briefing Saturday that the suspect posed as a police officer and used a fake squad car outfitted with flashing lights to gain entry to the lawmakers’ residences.
“This was somebody that clearly had been impersonating a police officer, again, using the trust of the badge and this uniform to manipulate their way into the home,” Bruley said, adding that the suspect fled out of the back of the house, abandoning the vehicle at the scene.
A search of the suspect’s vehicle—an SUV—uncovered a manifesto and hit list. “When we did a search of the vehicle, there was a manifesto that identified many lawmakers and other officials,” Bruley said. “We immediately made alerts to the state. We took action on alerting them and providing security where necessary.”
Investigators also discovered flyers in the vehicle bearing the phrase “No Kings”—a reference to a protest movement critical of President Donald Trump’s policies—that has scheduled demonstrations across multiple states, including several in Minnesota. Authorities have
urged residents to avoid political gatherings out of an abundance of caution.
Speaking at the same earlier briefing as the police chief, Gov. Tim Walz called the deaths of Hortman and her husband, Mark, “an unspeakable tragedy,” while describing the incident as a “politically motivated assassination.”
The governor added that Hoffman and his wife had undergone surgery after sustaining multiple gunshot wounds. “We are cautiously optimistic that they will survive this assassination attempt,” he said, reiterating that authorities were treating the shootings as “targeted political violence.”
What’s Known About the Suspect?
Public records show that Boelter was
appointed by Gov. Walz in 2019 to a four-year term on the Governor’s Workforce Development Board. He had previously
served under then-Gov. Mark Dayton in 2016 as a member of the state’s Workforce Development Council.
Boelter’s LinkedIn page
stated that he has experience in international security operations as CEO of an apparently now-defunct company called Red Lion Group, which he said undertook projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo. While the group’s website is offline, one LinkedIn
post from Boelter includes an email address linked to Praetorian Guard Security Services LLC, a Minneapolis-based armed residential security firm. Boelter is listed on the company’s leadership team as Director of Security Patrols.
His
biography on the firm’s website claims involvement in “security situations in Eastern Europe, Africa, North America, and the Middle East, including the West Bank, Southern Lebanon, and the Gaza Strip.” It adds that he combines “on-the-ground experiences” with training from private security firms and individuals affiliated with the U.S. military.
The bio also stated that he worked for “the largest U.S. oil refining company, the world’s largest food company based in Switzerland, and the world’s largest convenience retailer based in Japan.”
An email inquiry sent to Praetorian Guard Security Services seeking confirmation of Boelter’s affiliation and details about his claimed international security experience was not immediately returned.
Boelter’s ties to the security firm may help explain how he allegedly acquired a vehicle outfitted to resemble a police squad car, along with other law enforcement-style equipment.
Boelter was also named in a 2018
article by The Globe, a Worthington, Minnesota-based news outlet, which described his participation in a Minnesota business forum for Congolese officials. The article stated that Boelter was attending as a representative of Marathon Petroleum Corp. and proposed a workforce exchange program to train Congolese nationals in various trades.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Boelter also has a background in the food industry, with past roles at Johnsonville Sausage, Del Monte, Greencore, and 7-Eleven. His most recent
post on the platform suggested he was seeking a return to the sector.
Lawmakers Targeted
Hoffman, one of the shooting victims, is a Democrat first elected in 2012. He
runs a consulting firm called Hoffman Strategic Advisors. Hoffman, who is married and has one daughter, previously served as vice chair of the Anoka-Hennepin School Board, Minnesota’s largest school district.
Hortman, the top Democratic leader in the Minnesota House and a former speaker, was first elected in 2004. A lawyer by training, she was married with two children.
Both lawmakers represent districts in the northern suburbs of Minneapolis.
President Donald Trump, who has been briefed on the incident,
said in a post on social media that the Justice Department and the FBI are investigating 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,” he wrote. “God Bless the great people of Minnesota, a truly great place!”
Former President Joe Biden also weighed in on the tragedy.
“This heinous attack motivated by politics should never happen in America,” Biden
wrote on social media. “We must give hate and extremism no safe harbor and we must all unite against political violence as a nation.”
