Minnesota Democrats' shooter at large as motive comes into focus

Tony Czuczka, Bloomberg News on Jun 15, 2025

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The manhunt for a shooter who killed a Democratic state lawmaker in Minnesota and wounded another went into a second day, as speculation about a motive focused on the suspect’s stance on abortion.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Vance L. Boelter, 57. The four known victims include Melissa Hortman, the Democratic leader in the state House, and her husband, Mark, who were fatally shot at their house early Saturday.

“They are following every lead, asking for the public’s help,” Amy Klobuchar, the senior U.S. senator from Minnesota, said Sunday on ABC’s "This Week."

John Hoffman, a Minnesota state senator, and his wife, Yvette, were wounded in a shooting also linked to the suspect. Klobuchar said they are recovering.

The suspect left a purported hit list in his car that included several Minnesota politicians and abortion providers in the state, according to a government background document seen by Bloomberg News.

That so-called manifesto indicates there “clearly was some through-line with abortion” because of abortion rights groups and individuals reported to be on the list, Klobuchar said.

She suggested that law enforcement’s search for Boelker is extending beyond Minnesota to the broader Midwest.

“We believe he’s somewhere in the vicinity and that they are going to find him,” she said on NBC’s "Meet the Press." “But right now everyone on edge here because we know that this man will kill at a second.”

Investigators are also looking into whether he may have had direct interactions with the two legislators, she said.

The shootings, which coincided with nationwide protests against Donald Trump on Saturday and a military parade in Washington promoted by the president, prompted bipartisan condemnation.

“Such horrific violence will not be tolerated in the United States of America,” Trump said in a social post.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz called the eruption of violence an “unspeakable tragedy.”

The Minnesota carnage renewed a focus on political violence in the U.S. that both political parties have deplored for years. Threats only against national lawmakers in Washington increased to 9,000 last year from 1,700 in 2016, Klobuchar said.

“This has gotten totally out of hand with threats against members of Congress,” she said on CNN’s "State of the Union."

Boelter texted his roommates that he was “going to be gone for a while” and “may be dead shortly,” according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, which interviewed one of the housemates.

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