The nationwide manhunt continued Sunday for 57-year-old Vance Boelter, the man whom law enforcement officials have identified as the primary suspect in the killings of Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband.
Authorities said they found a vehicle belonging to Mr. Boelter roughly 60 miles from the deadly shooting in the Minneapolis suburbs. They warned the public that Mr. Boelter should be considered “armed and dangerous” and asked area residents to lock their doors and shelter in place.
Mr. Boelter is also the lead suspect in the shooting of state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported Sunday that they had survived and were recovering.
Both of the lawmakers targeted were Democrats.
U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota said Mr. Hoffman’s wife, Yvette, was “out of surgery first” and had “actually texted some of our mutual friends.” Ms. Klobuchar said Mr. Hoffman “may face some additional surgeries, but he is also in stable condition right now from what I know.”
Ms. Klobuchar said she had received added security without having to request it.
The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to Mr. Boelter’s arrest.
Gov. Tim Walz and fellow Democrats in the state said the shooting was politically motivated. Investigators said the shooter wore a “manifesto” that included the names of elected officials, including prominent pro-choice leaders and many Democratic lawmakers.
However, Mr. Boelter had been appointed to state boards by Democratic governors and appeared to have Democratic leanings.
“There clearly was some throughline with abortion because of the groups that were on the list,” Ms. Klobuchar said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “So that was one of his motivations. But again, they’re also checking out, did he have interaction somehow with these without legislators? Is there more to this?”
Law enforcement officials said Mr. Boelter posed as a police officer and wore a ballistic vest and mask to hide his identity when he killed Ms. Hortman and her husband, Mark, at their home. Ms. Hortman had previously served six years as speaker of the Minnesota House.
Mr. Boelter briefly exchanged gunfire with police before escaping on foot.
Hours before the shootings, the Hortmans joined fellow Democrats, including Ms. Klobuchar, at the state party’s annual Humphrey-Mondale dinner.
Questions about the motivations for the shootings and Mr. Boelter’s political leanings opened the door to partisan finger-pointing on social media.
David Carlson, who identified himself as Mr. Boelter’s roommate and considered him his best friend, having known him since childhood, said Mr. Boelter was struggling mentally and financially after leaving his job to pursue business ventures in Congo.
“He kept things inside,” Mr. Carlson told the Star Tribune. “He’s been kind of down. He was not as upbeat as he usually is.”
He said he received a text from Mr. Boelter around 6 a.m. Saturday suggesting he would be dead shortly and telling Mr. Carlson he loved him. Mr. Carlson said he found Mr. Boelter’s suspected involvement in the shootings unbelievable.
Mr. Carlson told reporters over the weekend that Mr. Boelter opposed abortion and supported President Trump.
The Star Tribune reported that the Rev. Mcnay Nkashama, who organized the missionary trips to Africa that Mr. Boelter joined, said he was “trying to make sense of what might have triggered all of this.”
“I am extremely confused,” he told the newspaper. “I’ve known him long enough to be highly shocked.”
Minnesota police said the fake police car they found had a stack of flyers titled “No Kings,” the name of anti-Trump protests across the nation Saturday.
Law enforcement officials said Mr. Boelter had written a manifesto but added that it would be “premature” to determine a motivation based on the writings.
State Attorney General Keith Ellison said Sunday that Mr. Boelter had a hit list and that his name was on “the one with the political folks on it.”
Mr. Boelter had served on the governor’s bipartisan Workforce Development Council. Gov. Mark Dayton, a Democrat, appointed him to the panel in 2016, and Mr. Walz reappointed him in 2019.
Videos circulating online appear to show Mr. Boelter delivering sermons at a Christian church in Congo. They showed him railing against transgenderism and same-sex marriage in the United States.
Ms. Klobuchar said Sunday that the deadly shooting demands that elected leaders tone down the political rhetoric.
“People need to call out people,” she said on CNN’s “State of the Union. “Some people need to look in the mirror and say, ‘Hey, I have to stop this or stop my colleagues from doing this because it makes it much worse.’”
The Democrat signaled an interest in creating new rules to crack down on online activity that stokes political violence and incentivizes copycat crimes.
Ms. Klobuchar said threats against elected officials have jumped from 1,700 in 2016 to 9,000 last year.
“So, more has to be done on that front and, of course, more has to be done to protect elected officials, regardless of party,” she said.
Asked during a separate appearance on CNN whether members of Congress should receive security details, Sen. Tina Smith, Minnesota Democrat, said, “I can’t bear to think that it has come to that.”
“But I think we are at a tipping point right now,” Ms. Smith said.
