ST. PAUL, Minn. (OSV News) — A man suspected of killing Democratic State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, was arrested June 15 after a nearly two-day manhunt that authorities described as the largest in state history.
Vance Boelter, 57, was arrested in a field near his home in Green Isle, Minn., officials said.
Boelter has been charged by the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office with two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder.
Before the Hortmans were killed in the western Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Park, state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were each shot multiple times in nearby Champlin. They underwent surgery and have been recovering.
At a news conference, Gov. Tim Walz said the June 14 shootings appeared to be “a politically motivated assassination.” He said the state had lost a great leader and “I lost one of the dearest of friends.”
Melissa Hortman, 55, was killed amid her 11th term in the Minnesota House of Representatives, where she served as the House Democrats’ leader from 2017-2019 and as speaker of the House from 2019-2025.
Father Joseph Whalen, pastor of St. Timothy in Blaine, Minn., said the Hortman family had been part of the parish community and Melissa Hortman at one point had volunteered in the children’s faith formation program.
“We mourn the tragic deaths of Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, and the grievous injuries sustained by Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette,” Father Whalen said in a statement posted June 14 on the parish website. “Our parish community feels deeply this loss and we offer our prayerful support and condolences to the Hortman and Hoffman families.”
Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis issued a statement June 14 calling for prayers for those killed and injured and for law enforcement, and for civility in all discourse.
“I ask all people of goodwill to join me in prayer for the repose of the souls of Minnesota House Speaker-Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, along with prayers of recovery for Senator John Hoffman and his wife,” the archbishop said.
Police first responded at about 2 a.m. June 14 to a report that Hoffman and his wife had been shot. Out of caution, police checked on the Hortmans and confronted the suspect, who was impersonating a police officer and driving what appeared to be a police SUV with emergency lights. They exchanged gunfire, the gunman retreated into the home and fled on foot out a back door, officials said.
A notebook was found in the suspect’s vehicle that identified “many lawmakers and other officials,” said Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley at the June 14 news conference with Walz and other officials.
The vehicle also contained fliers for that day’s planned “No Kings” rallies, billed as a national day of peaceful protest against the Trump administration.
In his statement, Archbishop Hebda said, “There is absolutely no reason for someone to commit such senseless violence on anyone, particularly those who are involved in public service.”
“The Catholic bishops of Minnesota and I met annually with Speaker-Emerita Hortman and I knew her to be an honorable public servant. Although we disagreed on some issues, we worked collaboratively to find common ground on others in pursuit of the common good,” the archbishop continued.
“Senator Hoffman is always generous with his time, as well, meeting with the bishops whenever they are at the Capitol,” he said. “He is a strong advocate for the most vulnerable, and Minnesota continues to need his leadership. It is wrong for our elected representatives to have to live in fear of violence and we must do everything in our power to regain a sense of civility in our discourse, especially when we disagree. We cannot maintain our representative republic if our lawmakers fear violence for themselves and their family members.”
“At this time of fear and uncertainty, we need to rely even more on our loving God and that begins with prayer — both privately and communally,” the archbishop said. “May the Prince of Peace lead us away from such senseless violence.”
Jason Adkins, executive director and general counsel of the Minnesota Catholic Conference, said in a June 14 statement that he was “deeply saddened and angered by the cold-blooded assassination” of Hortman and her husband and the attempted murder of Hoffman and his wife.
“Serving in a position of leadership requires making difficult choices and sticking to one’s word, while not abandoning one’s principles. I can personally attest from working with Representative Hortman that she was such a leader,” he said. “We disagreed on key issues but still found opportunities to collaborate and solve difficult problems that mattered to Minnesotans generally and Catholics, specifically. We will be praying for the repose of her soul.”
Adkins described Sen. Hoffman as “a champion of vulnerable people in our communities,” “a person of deep conviction” and “also a friend.”
“Minnesota cannot afford to lose his presence in state government and our staff is praying fervently for him and for his family,” he said.
“Resorting to violence in public life is never acceptable and begets more violence,” Adkins continued. “Unfortunately, we, as a society, have increasingly embraced violence as a means of solving problems because we have lost a sense of the dignity of every human person created in the image and likeness of God.
“Until we recover a deeper sense of our common humanity and fraternity,” he said, “we will continue to see the collapse of both civic discourse and the ability of our political process to mediate conflict and achieve the common good.”
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