Police have caught a man suspected of fatally shooting a U.S. Democrat representative and her husband, according to officials speaking to U.S. media.
It’s believed the shooter entered their home in the state of Minnesota while posing as a police officer. The couple died at the scene.
Police said the shooter also attacked another Democrat and his wife at their home. They were injured but survived.
The suspect has been caught by police after a 36-hour manhunt.
What happened?
In the early hours of Saturday morning (local time), a man arrived at the home of state Senator John Hoffman in a suburban area north of Minneapolis, Minnesota’s biggest city.
The man was dressed in a police uniform.
Hoffman and his wife Yvette were each shot multiple times but survived. Hoffman needed various surgeries for his wounds.
The man then drove to the home of Melissa Hortman, the highest-ranking Democrat in Minnesota’s state legislature (Parliament).
Hortman and her husband Mark were shot dead. The couple had two children.
Sources have now told U.S. media that officials have caught the key suspect, who they identified as 57-year-old Vance Luther Boelter.
A federal official had previously told media that Boelter had a list of 70 targets, including other Democrats, and Planned Parenthood, a U.S. sexual health service.
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Reaction
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz – who was Kamala Harris’ pick for Vice-President at last year’s election – called the shootings “an attack of targeted political violence”.
“We don’t settle our differences with violence or at gunpoint,” Walz told reporters.
He urged people across the state to not attend political rallies over the weekend out of “an abundance of caution”. This included protests against Trump’s presidency held across the country.
In a social media post, President Donald Trump said: “Such horrific violence will not be tolerated”.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, the top law officer in the country, confirmed the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) was involved in the case.
Bondi said the shootings appeared to be a “targeted attack”.
Political violence
U.S. authorities are warning the shootings are the latest incident in a wave of political violence in recent years.
Last month, two Israeli embassy staff were shot dead in Washington D.C.
Trump survived two assassination attempts in the run-up to the 2024 election.
A man attacked the husband of then U.S. House Speaker, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, with a hammer at their home in 2022.
