June 14, 2025 - News on the manhunt for gunman who shot Minnesota lawmakers

Our live coverage of the manhunt has moved here.

Police were responding to a shooting at Democratic State Sen. John Hoffman’s home around 2 a.m. when officers went to check on State Rep. Melissa Hortman, who lived about 9 miles away, at around 3:35 a.m.

As they arrived at her home, they encountered the suspect, 57-year-old Vance Boelter, dressed like a police officer.

As he came out of the house, he exchanged gunfire with the police before escaping on foot, leaving behind what appeared to be a police car at the scene. Police found writings in the vehicle that included a hit list with nearly 70 names. Those named are mostly Democratic politicians or figures with ties to abortion rights, including Minnesota lawmakers Rep. Ilhan Omar and Sen. Tina Smith. Boelter also had survival gear in the vehicle.

Boelter is still at large. A shelter-in-place was implemented in Brooklyn Park, but lifted later on Saturday after authorities said they believed he was no longer in the area.

Investigators are looking into whether he wore a latex face mask during the shootings, a law enforcement official told CNN.

Read part of the police’s dispatch audio to emergency services here.

The Minnesota State flag flies at half-staff outside the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul on Saturday, after a man killed senior Democratic state assemblywoman Melissa Hortman and her husband Marc.

Police are searching for 57-year-old Vance Boelter, the suspect in the killing of a Minnesota lawmaker and the shooting of another.

State Rep. Melissa Hortman — the top Democrat in the Minnesota House — and her husband were shot and killed in an apparent “politically motivated assassination,” according to Gov. Tim Walz.

Boelter is also suspected of shooting Minnesota State Sen. John Hoffman, also a Democrat, and his wife, Yvette, who survived the shooting and have undergone surgery. Yvette Hoffman saved her daughter Hope’s life by throwing herself on top of her, a relative told CNN affiliate KARE.

Here’s what we know:

David Carlson reads a text message he received from Vance Boelter outside his home in Minneapolis, on Saturday.

David Carlson, a friend of Vance Boelter, the suspect in the assassination of a Minnesota lawmaker and the shooting of another, told CNN affiliate KARE that he texted his friends the morning of the shootings to warn them he was “gonna be gone for a while” and “may be dead shortly.”

Carlson, 59, also spoke with CNN on Saturday night in front of his home. Carlson said Boelter was having financial problems and struggling to find work.

Although Boelter, 57, lived in the small town of Green Isle about an hour outside Minneapolis, he often stayed in the rented home of his longtime friend in the city.

Clarification: This post has been updated to clarify the timing of the text message.

Minnesota State Sen. John Hoffman, who was wounded in an assassination attempt on Saturday, is a business owner who has served in the body since 2013, according to the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library.

Hoffman, a Democrat, is the chair of the Senate Human Services Committee, and the library lists his special legislative concerns as education, health and human services, environment, energy and commerce.

His biography page on the website of Democrats in the Minnesota Senate says he “has been a longtime advocate and leader on issues related to disability services and the needs of children and their families,” adding that he has worked in that area in the public, private and nonprofit sectors.

In responses to the Political Courage Test done by the nonpartisan website Vote Smart in 2020, Hoffman listed his legislative priorities as “affordable and accessible health care, fully funded schools and building up local business” while describing himself as pro-choice on abortion and in support of taxing high-income earners more to balance the state’s budget.

Born in Casper, Wyoming, the 60-year-old has also held government jobs in Iowa, including as the supervisor of a juvenile detention center in the 1990s and later as a program manager for the Iowa Department of Human Services, his library page says.

Before joining the state Senate, Hoffman was vice chair of the Anoka Hennepin School Board, the largest school district in Minnesota, his biography says.

Sen. John Hoffman.

Minnesota Democratic State Sen. John Hoffman, who was shot in an assassination attempt on Saturday, is a tireless advocate for residents in need of social services as chairman of the Senate’s Human Services Committee, a Republican colleague says.

“He’s tried to help our most vulnerable Minnesotans, and he’s got a track record of doing that for decades,” GOP Sen. Zack Duckworth told CNN affiliate KARE.

Hoffman is also easy to get along with, Duckworth said.

“John is probably the most gregarious colleague of ours,” he said.

David Carlson speaks to reporters about his friend Vance Boelter on Saturday.

Police are searching for 57-year-old Vance Boelter, the suspect in the assassination of a Minnesota lawmaker and the attempted assassination of another.

Although Boelter lived in the small town of Green Isle about an hour outside Minneapolis, he often stayed in the rented home of his longtime friend in the city, David Carlson.

Carlson, 59, spoke with reporters Saturday night in front of his home after returning from the lumber store to buy plywood for the windows, which had been busted open by a SWAT team earlier in the day.

“He wasn’t a hateful person,” Carlson said, adding that he and Boelter have known each other since attending fourth grade together in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota.

Carlson said Boelter was a conservative who voted for President Donald Trump and was strongly against abortion rights. But he said Boelter never mentioned any particular issue with the lawmakers who were shot, and said he was stunned to learn that he is a suspect in the attacks.

Carlson said Boelter was having financial problems and struggling with finding work.

Bullet holes mark the front door of Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman on Saturday.

Early Saturday morning, emergency services responded to the home of state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, in Champlin, Minnesota. But were shot and Hoffman and his wife underwent surgery and are stable, according to officials.

Read part of the dispatch conversation here.

2:08 a.m.:

Dispatcher: “Code three in Champlin, stand by on a possible GSW (gunshot wound), sounds like there may be two patients.”

First responders and the dispatcher discuss calling Mercy Hospital to have two rooms available for victims.

Dispatcher: “Code three to Mercy with one female victim, three GSWs… Can you notify Mercy of our patient, please?”

First responder: “Please advise Mercy, we have an older male, multiple gunshot wounds.”

More than an hour later, emergency personnel shared details with dispatchers about the victims in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, at the home of Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark. Both Hortman and her husband died from the shooting.

3:35 a.m.:

“We are going to have at least two patients. Get that truck coming. Code three, if we can send another one to the area … we are going to have one confirmed shooting right now. Possible more.”

“We will be taking that one. No more confirmed shot at this time. They want another rig to stand in the area. They don’t know where the shooter is.”

“Suspect is barricaded in the house.”

“Now that I have a second to explain it, they want you guys on standby. The shooter is still in the house, they believe barricaded with the firearms, and multiple different agencies are on scene, trying to locate if this individual is on foot, if he shot anybody else around the home. Just so you guys have a little bit more of an update as to what is going on there.”

Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin called the shooting of Minnesota state lawmakers and their spouses a “horrific tragedy” during her remarks at the Wisconsin Democratic Party Convention on Saturday.

Baldwin said she first heard of the assassination attempts from her colleagues, Minnesota Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith.

“Let’s keep them in our hearts, in our minds, in our prayers, and let’s carry on in their memories,” Baldwin said.

Vance Boelter is the 57-year-old suspected of shooting two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses.

As the search continues for the man accused of impersonating a police officer and killing State Rep. Melissa Hortman and wounding State Sen. John Hoffman, a clearer portrait of the suspect is emerging.

Here’s what we’ve learned about Vance Boelter:

• Work: He worked for a security company, Praetorian Guard Security Services, which advertised a fleet of “police type vehicles” and other equipment that could potentially have aided him in appearing to be law enforcement. The firm was registered to Boelter’s home address and listed a woman who is apparently his wife as president and CEO.

• Religion: He is an outspoken evangelical Christian who traveled to Africa to tell his story and, in at least one sermon, pointedly questioned American morals on sexual orientation, according to videos and social media posts reviewed by CNN.

• Hit list: Names on a list found in his car, which CNN obtained, are largely Democrats or figures with ties to Planned Parenthood or the abortion rights movement. The list included lawmakers such as Rep. Ilhan Omar and Sen. Tina Smith.

• Political views: He largely shied away from political posts in his publicly available social media feeds and did not discuss abortion rights in any religious speeches reviewed by CNN. In one talk he gave in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2023, he appeared sharply critical of LGBTQ rights.

• Link to victim: He served on a state board with Hoffman, records show. In 2019, Gov. Tim Walz put Boelter on the Governor’s Workforce Development Board – a group of business owners who recommend policies to the state government. It’s unclear how closely Boelter and Hoffman interacted in that role, if at all.

• Party affiliation: Boelter registered to vote as a Republican in the early 2000s, state records show. A state document listing his 2019 appointment to a development board noted that he had “no party preference.”

• No record: A search of Minnesota criminal records showed no cases against Boelter aside from some traffic charges.

• Education: Boelter’s LinkedIn page states he had a doctorate in educational leadership and a master’s of science in management, both from Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee, and he used the prefix Dr. on his website and social media.

• Family: Social media posts indicate he has multiple children.

• Home: Boelter had a property outside the small town of Green Isle, about 50 miles west of Minneapolis, according to records.

Read more about the suspect.

CNN’s Isabelle Chapman, Curt Devine, Yahya Abou-Ghazala, Anna-Maja Rappard, Scott Glover, John Miller and Rob Kuznia contributed to this report.

Law enforcement officers with the River Valley Tactical Team prepare to visit the home of Vance Boelter near Green Isle, Minnesota.

SWAT teams and officers from multiple agencies are searching the property of Vance Boelter, the suspect in the assassination of one Minnesota lawmaker and the wounding of another, Sibley County Sheriff Patrick Nienaber said today.

The suspect was not at the residence when officers arrived, and the search for evidence continues, spanning the home and a farm site, Nienaber said.

Video from CNN affiliate KARE shows multiple armored vehicles responding to a residential area in Green Isle, Minnesota.

“Vehicles that were here today from numerous sheriff’s offices and SWAT teams were here today helping us,” the sheriff said. “There were 75 plus people involved with the search.”

Minnesota State Rep. Melissa Hortman stands in front of a bookshelf in her office in 2023.

A dedicated volunteer who taught Sunday school and loved dogs. A lawyer who served as a Girl Scout leader and worked at her dad’s auto parts store. A mother and wife whose husband was killed alongside her. Minnesota State Rep. Melissa Hortman was more than just the state House’s top Democrat, according to those who knew her.

She “was a bright shining light of a human being,” Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, who went to law school with Hortman, said in a post on X.

Hortman and her husband, Mark, were shot and killed Saturday morning at their Brooklyn Park home in “a politically motivated assassination,” Gov. Tim Walz said. The suspect, Vance Boelter, is on the run, officials said.

Hortman, a “formidable public servant,” will be remembered as a giant in Minnesota, Walz said.

“A lifelong resident of the northern suburbs,” Hortman, 55, grew up in Spring Lake Park and Andover, according to a previous campaign page. She graduated from Blaine High School, about 24 miles north of the Minnesota state Capitol where she would later serve as speaker of the house.

Hortman worked for then-Sens. Al Gore and John Kerry after graduating from Boston College before returning to Minnesota to get her law degree at the University of Minnesota, according to the campaign website and her profile on the Minnesota Legislature website.

Read more about Hortman here.

Law enforcement officers are deployed in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, on Saturday.

A massive manhunt is underway this evening for the suspect in the assassination of a Minnesota lawmaker and the attempted assassination of another.

State Rep. Melissa Hortman — the top Democrat in the Minnesota House — and her husband were shot and killed early this morning in “what appears to be a politically motivated assassination,” according to Gov. Tim Walz.

Police are searching for 57-year-old Vance Boelter, who is also the suspect in the shooting of Minnesota State Sen. John Hoffman, also a Democrat, and his wife. They have undergone surgery and are alive, according to authorities.

Here’s what we know:

The shootings: Police responded to a shooting at Hoffman’s address in Champlin around 2 a.m. and were still investigating the scene when, at 3:35 a.m., officers who had gone to check on Hortman in Brooklyn Park about 9 miles away encountered the suspect coming out of her house and exchanged gunfire with him, officials said. The gunman was able to flee the scene on foot.

CNN’s Rebekah Reiss, Danya Gainor, Holmes Lybrand, John Miller, Josh Campbell and Michelle Watson contributed to this post.

Rep. Kelly Morrison, pictured in 2024, called Saturday's shootings "an act of political violence."

US Rep. Kelly Morrison from Minnesota described the death of state Rep. Melissa Hortman on Saturday as a loss of “a giant of the Minnesota legislature,” remembering her colleague “as one of the most consequential speakers of the Minnesota House.”

Morrison called the shooting death of Hortman and her husband, Mark, “an act of political violence.”

Morrison praised Minnesota law enforcement in their efforts to protect communities and elected officials, but noted a need for additional security measures.

Police deploy as a manhunt is underway Saturday for the shooter who targeted two state lawmakers.

The FBI is using “every available resource” to find Vance Boelter, the 57-year-old suspected of shooting two Minnesota state lawmakers and their spouses, the agency said in a post on X.

Authorities are encouraging anyone with information to call the FBI’s tipline at 1-800-225-5324 or the BCA at 1-877-996-6222, or send an emailed tip to bca.tips@state.mn.us.

“The public’s vigilance is critical in brining this individual to justice,” Winston said.

An image of the suspect released by the FBI appears to show him wearing a face mask.

Investigators are looking into whether the suspect wore a latex face mask when he shot two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses early Saturday, a law enforcement official briefed on the case told CNN.

CNN’s chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst John Miller said it’s “entirely possible” that the suspect wore a mask to change “his appearance during the crime so (police) would be looking for that guy” instead of Boelter.

One photo in a batch posted to X by the FBI Saturday afternoon appears to show the suspect wearing a mask, Miller told CNN’s Jessica Dean on CNN Newsroom Saturday, noting that the investigation is still in its early stages.

President Donald Trump said the attacks in Minnesota against elected officials are “absolutely terrible,” as he exited the White House to head to the military parade on Saturday.

The White House said earlier Saturday that Trump had been briefed on the shootings.

“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 president said in a statement.

Vance Boelter, the suspect in Saturday morning’s shootings in Minnesota, had survival gear in the vehicle that police found, according to a document obtained by CNN.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, pictured speaking at a news conference in 2024, spoke with MSNBC on Saturday about the shooting victims.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar from Minnesota said state Rep. Melissa Hortman was a treasure of the North Star State.

“Melissa is someone that I wish the whole nation knew,” Klobuchar said Saturday on MSNBC.

“She grew up in a working class suburb. She went away to college,” Klobuchar said. “She came back and met her husband and worked at her dad’s auto parts store and then got involved. She was a Girl Scout leader, taught day school. I got to know her when we were both in politics, starting out in local offices and legislature for her, county for me.”

“She loved dogs and she was this leader like no other. She worked in a practically tied legislature and got a budget done at the end of this year. She, along with the governor and our other legislative leaders, was able to usher through school lunches and family leave and stood up for women’s rights,” Klobuchar said.

Klobuchar also spoke about Minnesota Sen. John Hoffman, saying he is loved. Hoffman and his wife are believed to have been targeted and shot by the same suspect, according to law enforcement.

“We hope he’s going to survive. He and his wife were shot several times,” Klobuchar said on MSNBC.

The senator said she’s also aware of an increase in threats against elected officials.

“This has been a nationwide scourge of threats against elected officials and judges and election workers, you name it, that has been going on for the last decade, and it’s just keeps getting worse.”