July 8, 2025:
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman, who was shot nine times by a gunman posing as a police officer who authorities say went on to kill another lawmaker, is out of the hospital and is now recovering in a transitional care unit, his family said.
“John has been moved to a rehab facility, but still has a long road to recovery ahead,” the family said in a statement Monday night (July 7, 2025).
The family released a photo showing a smiling Hoffman giving a thumbs-up while standing with a suitcase on rollers, ready to leave the hospital.
Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were awakened around 2 a.m. on June 14 by a man pounding on the door of their home in the Minneapolis suburb of Champlin who said he was a police officer. According to an FBI agent’s affidavit, security video showed the suspect, Vance Boelter, at the door wearing a black tactical vest and holding a flashlight. He was wearing a flesh-colored mask that covered his entire head.
Yvette Hoffman told investigators they opened the door, and when they spotted the mask, they realized that the man was not a police officer. He then said something like “this is a robbery.” The senator then lunged at the gunman and was shot nine times. Yvette Hoffman was hit eight times before she could shut the door. Their adult daughter, Hope, was there but was not injured and called 911.
Boelter is accused of going to the homes of two other lawmakers in a vehicle altered to resemble a squad car, without making contact with them, before going to the home of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in nearby Brooklyn Park. He allegedly killed both of them and wounded their dog so seriously that he had to be euthanized.
The chief federal prosecutor for Minnesota has called the lawmaker’s killing an assassination.
Yvette Hoffman was released from the hospital a few days after the attacks. Former President Joe Biden visited the senator in the hospital when he was in town for the Hortmans’ funeral.
Boelter, who remains jailed without bail, is charged in federal and state court with murder and attempted murder. At a hearing Thursday, Boelter said he was “looking forward to the facts about the 14th coming out.”
Prosecutors have declined to speculate on a motive. Friends have described him as an evangelical Christian with politically conservative views.
It will be up to Attorney General Pam Bondi to decide whether to seek the federal death penalty. Minnesota abolished its state death penalty in 1911.
June 27, 2025, update:
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Gilbert was with his family when a gunman murdered two of his family members, a prominent Minnesota legislator and her husband, and the golden retriever was beside them as they lay in state Friday (June 27, 2025) at the state Capitol.
He is all but certainly the first dog to receive the honor, having been put down after being badly injured in the attack. There is no record of any other non-human ever lying in state, and the late state Rep. Melissa Hortman, the state House’s top Democrat and a former speaker, is the first woman. The state previously granted the honor to 19 men, including a vice president, a U.S. secretary of state, U.S. senators, governors and a Civil War veteran, according to the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library.
Gilbert has received a flood tributes like Hortman and her husband, Mark, ever since news spread online that he had been shot, too, in the attack early on the morning of June 14 by a man posing as a police officer. The accused assassin, Vance Boelter, is also charged with shooting a prominent Democratic state senator and his wife, and authorities say Boelter visited two other Democratic lawmakers’ homes without encountering them.
The dog’s injuries were severe enough that surviving family members had him put to sleep at a veterinary clinic in the Hortmans’ hometown of Brooklyn Park, a Minneapolis suburb. The clinic, Allied Emergency Veterinary Service, called Gilbert “sweet and gentle” and “deeply loved” on a GoFundMe site raising money for the care of local police dogs.
Hours after the shootings, a nonprofit that trains service dogs, Helping Paws Inc., posted a picture on Facebook of Gilibert with the murdered Minnesota lawmaker, both smiling. The Hortmans provided a foster home to dogs to help train them to be service animals, and one of them, Minnie, had graduated on to assisting a veteran.
But Helping Paws said in its post that Gilbert “eventually career changed.”
One of Hortman’s fellow lawmakers, Democratic Rep. Erin Koegel, told AP that the golden retriever had “flunked out of school” and that “Melissa wanted him to fail so she could keep him.” Gilbert had been deemed ”too friendly” to be a service dog, KARE-TV reported.
June 27, 2025:
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman will lie in state in the Minnesota Capitol rotunda on Friday (June 27, 2025) while the man charged with killing her and her husband, and wounding a state senator and his wife, is due in court.
Hortman, a Democrat, will be the first woman and one of fewer than 20 Minnesotans accorded the honor. She will lie in state with her husband, Mark, and their golden retriever, Gilbert. Her husband was also killed in the June 14 attack, and Gilbert was seriously wounded and had to be euthanized.
The public can pay their respects from noon to 5 p.m. Friday. House TV will livestream the viewing. A private funeral is set for 10:30 a.m. Saturday. The service will be livestreamed on the Department of Public Safety’s YouTube channel.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris will fly to Minnesota for the funeral but won’t have a speaking role, according to her personal office. Harris expressed her condolences this past week to Hortman’s adult children, and spoke with Gov. Tim Walz, her 2024 running mate, who extended an invitation on behalf of the Hortman family, her office said.
The criminal case proceeds
The man accused of killing the Hortmans and wounding another Democratic lawmaker and his wife is due in court Friday to face charges for what the chief federal prosecutor for Minnesota has called “a political assassination.” Vance Boelter, 57, of Green Isle, surrendered near his home the night of June 15 after what authorities have called the largest search in Minnesota history.
The hearing, before Magistrate Judge Douglas Micko, is expected to address whether Boelter should remain in custody without bail and affirm that there is probable cause to proceed. He is not expected to enter a plea. Prosecutors need to secure a grand jury indictment before he’s arraigned later, which is when a plea is normally entered.
According to the federal complaint, police video shows Boelter outside the Hortmans’ home and captures the sound of gunfire. And it says security video shows Boelter approaching the front doors of two other lawmakers’ homes dressed as a police officer.
His lawyers have declined to comment on the charges, which could carry the federal death penalty. The acting U.S. attorney for Minnesota, Joseph Thompson, said last week that no decision has been made. Minnesota abolished its death penalty in 1911. The Death Penalty Information Center says a federal death penalty case hasn’t been prosecuted in Minnesota in the modern era, as best as it can tell.
Boelter also faces separate murder and attempted murder charges in state court that could carry life without parole, assuming that county prosecutors get their own indictment for first-degree murder. But federal authorities intend to use their power to try Boelter first.
Other victims and alleged targets
Authorities say Boelter shot and wounded Democratic state Sen. John Hoffman, and his wife, Yvette, at their home in Champlin before shooting and killing the Hortmans in their home in the northern Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Park, a few miles away.
Federal prosecutors allege Boelter also stopped at the homes of two other Democratic lawmakers. Prosecutors also say he listed dozens of other Democrats as potential targets, including officials in other states. Friends described Boelter as an evangelical Christian with politically conservative views. But prosecutors have declined so far to speculate on a motive.
Boelter’s wife speaks out
Boelter’s wife, Jenny, issued a statement through her own lawyers Thursday saying she and her children are “absolutely shocked, heartbroken and completely blindsided,” and expressing sympathy for the Hortman and Hoffman families. She is not in custody and has not been charged.
“This violence does not align at all with our beliefs as a family,” her statement said. “It is a betrayal of everything we hold true as tenets of our Christian faith. We are appalled and horrified by what occurred and our hearts are incredibly heavy for the victims of this unfathomable tragedy.”
An FBI agent’s affidavit described the Boelters as “preppers,” people who prepare for major or catastrophic incidents. Investigators seized 48 guns from his home, according to search warrant documents.
While the FBI agent’s affidavit said law enforcement stopped Boelter’s wife as she traveled with her four children north of the Twin Cities in Onamia on the day of the shootings, she said in her statement that she was not pulled over. She said that after she got a call from authorities, she immediately drove to meet them at a nearby gas station and has fully cooperated with investigators.
“We thank law enforcement for apprehending Vance and protecting others from further harm,” she said.
June 24, 2025:
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, will lie in state in the state Capitol Rotunda on Friday (June 27, 2025), a day ahead of their funeral. Hortman will be the first woman and one of fewer than 20 Minnesotans accorded the honor. The Hortmans were shot to death in their home in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Park early on June 14 in what authorities say was a politically motivated killing. Before that, authorities say, the suspect, Vance Boelter, wounded another Democrat, Sen. John Hoffman, and his wife, Yvette, who lived a few miles away in Champlin.
Story
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, who were gunned down in what authorities say was a politically motivated killing, will lie in state in the state Capitol Rotunda on Friday (June 27, 2025), a day ahead of their funeral, Gov. Tim Walz announced Tuesday.
Hortman, a Democrat, will be the first woman and one of fewer than 20 Minnesotans accorded the honor.
The Hortmans were shot to death in their home in the northern Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Park early June 14. Before that, authorities say, the gunman wounded another Democrat, Sen. John Hoffman, and his wife, Yvette, who lived a few miles away in Champlin.
The Hortmans’ golden retriever, Gilbert, who was seriously wounded in the attack and had to be euthanized, will lie in state with them. The public can pay their respects at the Capitol from noon to 5 p.m. Friday.
A private funeral is set for 10:30 a.m. Saturday. A livestream will be available on the Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s YouTube channel.
Unsealed documents provide new details
Federal prosecutors allege the man charged in the shootings, Vance Boelter, also stopped that night at the homes of two other Democratic lawmakers, who have identified themselves as Sen. Ann Rest, of New Hope, and Rep. Kristin Bahner, of Maple Grove. Prosecutors also say he had dozens of other Democrats as potential targets, including officials in other states.
State investigators seized 48 guns from Boelter’s home in Green Isle, including 20 rifles, 19 handguns, nine shotguns, two tubs of extra magazines and ammunition, a notecard with the names of public officials, and $17,940 in cash, according to search warrant documents unsealed Friday. They also found a duffel containing five body bags at a storage locker that Boelter had rented in Minneapolis.
A separate FBI agent’s affidavit describes how law enforcement stopped Boelter’s wife as she traveled with her four children north of the Twin Cities in Onamia on the day of the shootings. She told investigators that Boelter texted her and their children that they needed to get out of their house.
“Boelter and his wife had been ‘preppers,’ or people who prepare for major or catastrophic incidents,” the affidavit said. “At some point, Boelter had given his wife a ‘bailout plan’ — i.e., a plan of where to go in case of exigent circumstances — to go her mother’s residence in Spring Brook, Wisconsin.”
She consented to a search of her vehicle, and law enforcement found a safe, passports for all their kids and him, at least $10,000 in cash, and two handguns, the affidavit said. She has not been charged.
Boelter could face the death penalty
Boelter surrendered near his home more than 40 hours after the shooting, following what authorities have called the largest search in Minnesota history. He is charged in both state and federal court with murder and other counts. His next court appearance is Friday.
Boelter’s federal defenders have declined to comment on the allegations. He remains jailed and has not entered a plea.
A lifelong friend, David Carlson, told The Associated Press last week that Boelter had been struggling to find work and was wrestling with a “darkness that was inside of him.” He said Boelter did not hold back when it came to his distaste for Democrats but that he never seemed threatening or talked to him about any of the officials whom he allegedly targeted.
Two of the six federal counts against Boelter, 57, can carry the death penalty, which Minnesota abolished in 1911.
The chief prosecutor for Hennepin County, Mary Moriarty, is moving forward separately in state court and plans to seek an indictment for first-degree murder, which would carry a mandatory sentence of life without parole.
Bipartisan tributes in Washington for the lawmakers who were shot
In Washington on Monday, members of Minnesota’s congressional delegation paid a bipartisan tribute to the Hortmans and Hoffmans before they observed a moment of silence on the House floor.
“She knew how to get things done and she did it with determination, respect and pragmatism,” said Democratic Rep. Kelly Morrison. “She built bridges across the aisle and she kept her diverse caucus together to usher through some of the most consequential legislation in our state’s history.”
Hortman, who was first elected in 2004, helped pass an expansive agenda of liberal initiatives like free lunches for public school students in 2023 as the chamber’s speaker, along with expanded protections for abortion and trans rights. With the House split 67-67 between Democrats and Republicans this year, she yielded the gavel to a Republican under a power-sharing deal, took the title speaker emerita, and helped break a budget impasse that threatened to shut down state government.
“There is no place in our country for politically motivated violence. None,” Republican Majority Whip Tom Emmer said. “The fact that the Hortman and Hoffman families are being forced to endure the consequences of inexplicable evil is heartbreaking, devastating and infuriating for us all. But it is through tragedies like this that we are reminded that we are stronger together.”
June 19, 2025:
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Hundreds of people, some clutching candles or carrying flowers to lay in front of a memorial, gathered outside Minnesota’s Capitol on Wednesday evening (June 18, 2025) for a vigil to remember a prominent state lawmaker and her husband who were gunned down at their home.
As a brass quintet from the Minnesota Orchestra played, Gov. Tim Walz wiped away tears and comforted attendees at the gathering for former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, who were killed early Saturday in the northern Minneapolis suburbs.
Colin Hortman, the Hortmans’ son, embraced Walz and lay a photo of his parents on the memorial.
The memorial, which sprang up outside the Capitol after the killings, features flowers, American flags, photos and sticky notes with such messages as, “Thank you for always believing in me and in Minnesota” and “We got this from here. Thank you for everything.”
Wednesday’s vigil also included a Native American drum circle, a string quartet and the crowd singing “Amazing Grace.”
Around the gathering, there was a heavy police presence, with law enforcement blocking off streets leading up to the Capitol and state troopers standing guard.
The event didn’t include a speaking program and attendees were instructed not to bring signs of any kind.
The man charged in federal and state court with killing the Hortmans, Vance Boelter, is also accused of shooting another Democratic lawmaker, Sen. John Hoffman, and his wife, Yvette, at their home a few miles away in Champlin. They survived and are recovering. Federal prosecutors have declined to speculate about a motive.
Boelter’s attorneys have declined to comment on the charges.
Hortman had served as the top House Democratic leader since 2017, and six years as speaker, starting in 2019. Under a power-sharing deal after the 2024 election left the House tied, her title became speaker emerita and Republican Rep. Lisa Demuth became speaker.
Walz has described Hortman as his closest political ally and “the most consequential Speaker in state history.”
The Hortmans were alumni of the University of Minnesota, which held a midday memorial gathering on the Minneapolis campus.
Rebecca Cunningham, the university’s president, spoke during the event about the grief and outrage people are grappling with along with questions about how things got to this point.
“I don’t have the answers to these questions but I know that finding answers starts with the coming together in community as we are today,” she said.
Funeral information for the Hortmans has not been announced.
June 18, 2025:
UNDATED-AP- A lifelong friend of the alleged Minnesota gunman says Vance Boelter had been struggling to find work and was wrestling with a “darkness that was inside of him” at the time of the shootings. But David Carlson told The Associated Press on Tuesday (June 17, 2025) that his friend’s involvement was as surprising as “getting struck by lightning.” Carlson said Boelter did not hold back when it came to his distaste for Democrats but he never seemed threatening or talked to him about any of the officials who were targeted. The FBI said Boelter “made lists containing the names and home addresses of many Minnesota public officials, mostly or all Democrats.”
Story
UNDATED-AP- Hours after the shootings of two Minnesota lawmakers over the weekend, authorities asked David Carlson to identify his lifelong friend in a harrowing photograph.
Carlson says he had known and trusted Vance Boelter from the time the two played together as children. But he barely recognized the 57-year-old in the surveillance image police showed him of Boelter wearing a flesh-colored mask as he carried out what authorities described as a political rampage.
“The guy with the mask, I don’t know that guy,” Carlson said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press (June 17, 2025), recounting his decades-long friendship with a man he likened to a brother. Boelter’s involvement in such an attack, he said, was as surprising to him as “getting struck by lightning.”
“There was a darkness that was inside of him,” Carlson said. “He must have kept it hidden.”
As authorities piece together Boelter’s movements and motivations, Carlson and others are conducting their own inventory of their interactions with the one-time pastor, wondering whether they missed any red flags.
Boelter is a married father of five but often stayed at Carlson’s home in Minneapolis to shorten his commute to work. In hindsight, Carlson said, Boelter “was a sick man” and needed help, even if those around him didn’t realize it in time.
Law enforcement has cautioned the motive could be more complex than pundits might prefer, even as Boelter’s own disjointed writings suggest he was hell-bent on targeting Democrats.
Boelter has been charged with federal murder and stalking, along with state counts, in the fatal shootings of former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark. He is also accused of wounding Democratic Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette.
At the time of the shootings, Carlson said Boelter had been struggling to find work and was “disappointed” he wasn’t hearing back from people.
In February 2025, Boelter abruptly quit his job delivering bodies from assisted living facilities to a funeral home and returned for several weeks to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where he had founded several companies focused on farming and fishing.
“I thought it was a mistake for him to quit his job,” Carlson said. “I didn’t think he was going to get anywhere with the Congo.”
But the life change was in keeping with Boelter’s impetuous “mentality to always go to the extreme,” Carlson said, recalling a time in the 1990s when Boelter was captured by security forces after sneaking into Gaza to preach Christianity on a trip to Israel. “That’s how crazy Vance is,” Carlson said. “He wasn’t supposed to be there.”
Years earlier, after becoming a Christian, Boelter “burned all of his belongings,” Carlson said, including karate and martial arts weapons and anything else that distracted from his religion.
Boelter graduated in 1990 from an interdenominational Bible college in Dallas, earning a diploma in practical theology in leadership. The Christ For The Nations Institute said in a statement it was “aghast and horrified” to learn the suspect was among its alumni, saying “this is not who we are.”
The church Boelter attended outside Minneapolis has not responded to emails from AP but issued a similar statement condemning the shootings as “the opposite of what Jesus taught his followers to do.”
Boelter, who worked as a security contractor, offered a glimpse of his opposition to abortion in a 2023 sermon he gave in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, saying “they don’t know abortion is wrong in many churches.”
“He wasn’t a radical cultist,” Carlson said. “He was just a regular Christian and kind of outspoken.”
Boelter was unrestrained when it came to his distaste for Democrats, Carlson said, but that rhetoric never seemed threatening. Carlson and another friend, Paul Schroeder, told AP they never heard Boelter talk about abortion or any of the officials who were targeted.
The FBI said Boelter “made lists containing the names and home addresses of many Minnesota public officials, mostly or all Democrats.”
“It wasn’t like, ‘We gotta stop them, man,’” Carlson said. “But it chills me to think he was in his room writing that stuff in my house.”
Boelter would go to a shooting range occasionally but was not fanatical about firearms, another friend, Paul Shroeder said.
“I thought he was just collecting them for self-defense,” Carlson said. “It was 1,000 miles away from stalking people and killing them.”
Carlson said he awoke Saturday to an alarming text message from Boelter, who warned he was “going to be gone for a while,” and “may be dead shortly.” Carlson initially thought his friend was suicidal and went to check his room.
He said he was so concerned he called police, who “at first didn’t seem too interested” before quickly connecting the messages to the shootings.
“Why throw your whole life away? God, he’s so stupid,” Carlson said. “He had everything.”
June 17, 2025:
UNDATED-AP- From a legislator in downtown Minneapolis to a veteran Ohio congresswoman, many lawmakers included in the suspected Minnesota gunman’s list of targets have vowed not to bow down.
Vance Boelter, 57, has been charged with federal murder and stalking, along with state charges, following a nearly two-day search that culminated in his capture in the woods near his home.
He is suspected of shooting and killing former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in their home early Saturday (June 14, 2025). He is also accused of wounding Democratic Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette.
The dozens of politicians included in Boelter’s writings were Democrats, according to acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson. About 45 were state and federal officials in Minnesota, while elected leaders in Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin said they were also mentioned in the writings.
Authorities have not provided a motive for the shootings. Manny Atwal, Boelter’s lead attorney, declined to comment, saying the office just got the case.
Here’s how some of the lawmakers in his writings are reacting to the violence:
Minnesota state Rep. Esther Agbaje
Agbaje spent the weekend with friends and family after learning that her name was on Boelter’s list and said she is still trying to make sense of the violence.
But since his arrest, the lawmaker, whose district includes portions of northern and downtown Minneapolis, has returned home. She said she now feels “more committed than ever” to her work as a legislator.
“We cannot allow people to divide us and then use violence to keep up those divisions,” she said.
U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, Michigan
A day after Dingell learned her name was included in Boelter’s writing, she held a town hall Monday in a high school auditorium in Dexter, Michigan.
“We cannot let terror terrorize us,” she told the audience, who cheered.
Dingell, who represents the Ann Arbor area, said that some people had wanted her to cancel the event.
After the town hall, she reflected on her habit of going out in public without her staff because she always wants people to be able to talk with her. After the shooting, law enforcement officers have told her to be more careful.
“We can’t let elected officials be cut off,” she said. “We can’t let elected officials become afraid.”
“Look, I’m going to keep fighting for the people that I represent. I’m going to keep being a voice for those that want me to make sure their voice is heard at the table,” she added.
Minnesota state Sen. Ann Rest
Rest, who represents New Hope in Hennepin County, said she was made aware that the suspect had been parked near her home early Saturday. She said in a statement Monday that the “quick action” of law enforcement officers saved her life.
While she was grateful for the suspect’s apprehension, she noted in the statement that she was grieving the loss of the Hortmans and praying for the Hoffmans’ recovery.
U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten, Michigan
Scholten, who represents Grand Rapids, said she was postponing a Monday town hall after learning she was a potential target.
“Out of an abundance of caution and to not divert additional law enforcement resources away from protecting the broader public at this time, this is the responsible choice,” Scholten said in a statement.
U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, Ohio
Kaptur’s office said in a statement that her name was included in Boelter’s writing but that it will not get in the way of her work “to make life better for families across Northwest Ohio.”
“Uplifting those who she has the honor to serve has been her sole focus every single day she has served and nothing will deter her from doing so now,” the statement said.
Minnesota state Rep. Alex Falconer
Falconer, whose district includes a portion of the Twin Cities, said he woke up Saturday morning while on vacation with his wife and kids to a flurry of text messages about the shootings. The police chief then called to warn him about a list of targets.
Falconer said he later learned he wasn’t on the list, but his family decided to stay away until the suspect was in custody. The police chief increased patrols in his neighborhood and stationed a police car outside of his house, he said.
While the question of whether to stay in politics was top of mind for him this weekend, Falconer said, “They win if we quit.”
Falconer and his Democratic colleagues in the state House gathered at the Capitol on Monday to seek comfort in one another and share stories of Hortman, Falconer said. It was the first time they could meet since the shooting because they had been told by law enforcement to not leave their homes while the suspect remained at-large, he said.
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