Live: About 50 to 70 names, including Planned Parenthood locations, on assassination suspect’s hit list

Minnesota was on edge Sunday after House Democratic leader Melissa Hortman and her husband were fatally shot Saturday in their Brooklyn Park home, and state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife survived the assassin’s attack at their home in Champlin. Gov. Tim Walz said it appeared to be a targeted act of political violence.

Authorities identified the suspect as 57-year-old Vance Boelter. A manhunt is underway to locate him.

Officials said the suspect left at the scene a list of politicians. A person who has seen the list said it included several abortion rights supporters, including lawmakers. Sen. Amy Klobuchar appeared on the list, according to federal law enforcement sources. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison also said he was on the list.

Here’s what we know so far:

Follow live updates below:

4:00 p.m. - Ben Wegner, who lives a little more than a mile from Boelter’s ditched car on the same road, was watching the search scene unfold through binoculars with his two children Sunday afternoon. Wegner, a 43-year-old who works in the tech industry, handed out drinks and snacks to officers stationed near the scene and members of the media as they worked in the hot weather.

While Wegner said he was uneasy about the suspect potentially being near his home, he said he felt safe given the large amount of officers in the area.

“I mean, obviously it’s a little unsettling, but I’m not concerned,” Wegner said. “There’s hundreds of law enforcement people here.”

Wegner said he didn’t know about Boelter’s vehicle being near his home until reading about it on Facebook on Sunday morning. He said he first noticed the growing police presence while driving his daughter to her soccer game.

3:35 p.m. - A person familiar with the investigation who saw a list of targets purported to be written by Vance Boelter said it included the names of individuals and businesses, including Planned Parenthood locations. Rep. Melissa Hortman’s name was down the list, not at the top. It was not alphabetized, and some names had addresses, while others did not. It was two pages, containing about 50 to 70 names. No separate manifesto was seen.

3:00 p.m. - More than 20 officers and K-9 dogs were seen searching a farm field and entering nearby woods to the east of where a black sedan belonging to Boelter was found.

2:41 p.m. - The upcoming trial of state Sen. Nicole Mitchell looks to be postponed due to the recent tragedy of Melissa Hortman, who was murdered along with her husband in their home Saturday morning. Court administration sent an urgent email to media Sunday afternoon saying jury selection for Mitchell’s trial would not begin Monday morning as previously planned.

Instead, there will be a remote court hearing on Monday. In a phone interview, Kim Pleticha, the director of public affairs for the Minnesota Judicial Branch, confirmed the postponement was a direct result of Hortman’s slaying.

“They’ve already told jurors ‘Do not show up for voir dire,’” Pleticha said. “If this is continued, is it continued until Wednesday or what are we doing? It’s still up in the air.”

Chief Judge Michael Fritz would have to grant a continuance before selecting a future trial date. Attorneys for Mitchell, who is accused of breaking into her stepmother’s home late one night in April 2024, declined to comment when reached on Sunday.

2:01 p.m. - Mike Liebhard, 59, said he left his home on 301st Avenue Sunday morning in Faxon Township and saw a black, “older little car, like a Buick” on the side of the road near the intersection with Highway 25.

The area was already “full of cops,” he said. He welcomed police to search his house, before they let him return.

“It’s just unfortunate,” Liebhard said. “The whole situation is unfortunate.”

He also saw a cowboy hat, similar to what Vance Boelter was believed to be wearing, lying on the gravel road near the intersection.

Officers were seen searching around the car, and exiting from the woods to the west around 1:40 p.m. It appeared to be a black sedan, with its doors opened as officers looked around. Media members were not allowed to get closer than a little less than a mile from the vehicle. Parked to the south on the highway were at least a half dozen police squad cars. There was a blue tarp lying on the gravel just behind the car next to the trunk.

Emergency alerts are being sent to nearby residents cautioning them to keep their doors locked and vehicles secured.

1:51 p.m. - Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison told the Minnesota Star Tribune on Sunday that his name was among those Vance Boelter allegedly targeted in a series of lists. Ellison said he had only seen a partial list, “the one with the political folks on it.”

Of Rep. Melissa Hortman’s assassination, he added: “Melissa was a dear, dear friend. I knew her very well, and I admired her tremendously.”

1:29 p.m. - The Rev. Mcnay Nkashama, who organizes missionary trips to Africa that Vance Boelter participated in, said in a brief phone interview Sunday that he never saw any red flags with Boelter previously.

“I am trying to make sense of what might have triggered all of this,” he said. “I am extremely confused. I’ve known him long enough to be highly shocked.”

Nkashama is the president and CEO of the Global Impact Center in St. Paul, which organizes missionary trips to Africa. He said he first met Boelter in 2018 and he volunteered for church-related events several times, including trips to Africa, as recently as 2023.

Nkashama described Boelter as kind, gentle and generous. He said Boelter never indicated he was troubled and the two had a good relationship “as God’s people — in that sense.”

When asked how he met Boelter and why Boelter expressed interest in missionary work, Nkashama said Boelter was like many people: “They want to make a difference. They want to contribute to helping others that are less fortunate than them.”

12:44 p.m. - The special agent in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in the St. Paul Field Division said investigators are “absolutely” confident that the suspect behind the assassination of Minnesota House DFL leader Melissa Hortman will be found.

“I am very confident that we’re going to successfully get this to an end,” said Travis Riddle, special agent in charge, during an interview with Fox News.

Riddle shared the latest in the investigation as the manhunt continues for suspect Vance Boelter. The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest. Boelter, 57, emerged as a suspect after an identification was left at the scene of Hortman’s residence and through a trace of recovered firearms, Riddle said.

Boelter is accused of posing as a police officer during the shootings. Boelter may still be armed, Riddle added, and should be considered dangerous.

12:24 p.m. - President Donald Trump still hadn’t called Gov. Tim Walz as of noon Sunday, per the governor’s spokesman. Former President Joe Biden called Walz “right away” on Saturday, the spokesman said.

Trump told an ABC News reporter that he may call Walz or others, adding an insult in his description of the governor.

12:10 p.m. - Law enforcement sources said federal prosecutors in Minnesota prepared charges against Vance Boelter on Saturday and will be ready to bring him into a federal courtroom quickly if he is apprehended.

12:05 p.m. - How well did Gov. Tim Walz know shooting suspect Vance Boelter? He didn’t, according to a source in his office. Boelter was appointed to a state workforce advisory board. Sen. John Hoffman, who was shot along with his wife, Yvette, was on that board as well. A board member, Steve Kalina, who says he’s on the opposite end of the political spectrum from Walz, said this is a bipartisan body and people should not draw conclusions. We will have more fact checks here.

11:54 a.m. - Officials in Sibley County said late Sunday morning that they have found an unoccupied vehicle belonging to Vance Boelter, the man suspected of shooting two state legislators and their spouses a day earlier in their Twin Cities homes.

The development was disclosed in an emergency alert from the Sheriff’s Office to cellphones in the area where the vehicle was found, Hwy. 25 and 301st Avenue in Faxon Township, a county dispatcher said. That location is a few miles east of Boelter’s home near Green Isle.

“Suspect not located. Keep your doors locked and vehicles secured,” the alert read. A dispatcher wanted to make clear that the alert was not directing people to shelter in place. “Law enforcement will be going to area residences to ask to search properties,” the alert noted.

11:41 a.m. - Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar was among the people listed as targets by the man wanted in connection with the shootings that killed and wounded state legislators and their spouses Saturday, federal law enforcement sources said.

The list, which law enforcement said was penned by Vance Boelter, also included members of the DFL congressional delegation and abortion providers.

When asked on NBC’s “Meet the Press” whether she was on the list, Klobuchar said: “I just know that they have added security without my request. So I think they’re concerned about everyone”

“I don’t have confirmation of that. There’s also the manifesto, and there’s the list. I think people have to understand that this guy is a murderous, murderous man. He will know no limits, whether you’re on the list, whether you’re not. He may change what he’s focused on, and that’s what we’re most concerned about right now is that the next person not a political person, but a person he just encounters?”

Sources said Boelter’s “manifesto” is mainly comprised of lawmakers and abortion providers, and has been pieced together from searches of several houses and areas, rather than being discovered in just one place. For now, law enforcement is prioritizing the manhunt for Boelter, who was last seen in surveillance video Saturday morning in Minneapolis. It is believed that he has fled the Twin Cities.

11:03 a.m. - Shooting suspect Vance Boelter was under financial duress after quitting his job to go to the Democratic Republic of Congo to work on business ventures, his friend and roommate David Carlson said Sunday.

Carlson has known Boelter since fourth grade, and considered him his best friend. He knew Boelter was having mental health and financial issues, but said he never would expect him to do anything violent.

“He kept things inside,” Carlson said. “He’s been kind of down. He was not as upbeat as he usually is.”

Boelter’s LinkedIn profile said he was CEO of Red Lion Group in Congo, but Carlson said that was something Boelter was trying to start “maybe because nothing was materializing” here.

“It wasn’t a reality,” he said. “It was like a goal he had but it was never realized. He bought a couple of cars and maybe some uniforms. It was never a real company.”

Things began to go downhill a few months ago after Boelter quit his jobs to go to Congo for two weeks to meet his partner about businesses he was trying to get off the ground there, Carlson said. They’d bought a fishing boat but “mafia organizations” controlled the river and threatened his employees. Carlson said he discouraged Boelter from the Congo business, but he put a lot of money into the venture anyway, and got no return.

10:29 a.m. - The wife of Vance Boelter was detained, along with three relatives, by law enforcement more than 100 miles from her home late Saturday morning, the Mille Lacs County sheriff said Sunday.

“Our law enforcement partners from the metro that are working this case became aware that she was traveling through my county, and they requested assistance in locating and stopping a vehicle,” Sheriff Kyle Burton said, referring to Boelter’s wife, Jenny Boelter.

Burton said the stop occurred between 10:30 and 11 a.m. outside the Casey’s convenience store just off Hwy. 169 in Onamia, about 110 miles north of the Boelters’ home near Green Isle.

“Deputies from my office responded with law enforcement from Hennepin County, and our role on this was [securing a] perimeter, so we were not involved in searching or questioning those who were in the car. I was told that the suspect’s wife and other relatives were in the car.”

Read more from reporter Paul Walsh here.

9:55 a.m. - Eleven Wisconsin lawmakers were included in an alleged manifesto that authorities recovered from the gunman accused of targeting DFL lawmakers, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

The Wisconsin lawmakers on the list — eight women and three men — are all Democrats, according to the report.

9:47 a.m. - Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, are awake and recovering after being shot early Saturday, according to nephew Mat Ollig.

“They are both awake now and recovering. It’s going to be a long process,” Ollig said in an interview, adding that the gunfire that struck John Hoffman “barely missed his heart.”

“Once they recover more, they will be making statements.”

8:57 a.m. - Gov. Tim Walz honored the legacy of Rep. Melissa Hortman, calling her the “most consequential speaker in state history.”

8:45 a.m. - The Parent Teacher Organization for Fernbrook Elementary School in Maple Grove, where Yvette Hoffman works, is stepping up to support her and her husband as they recover after Saturday’s shooting.

“Our hearts are heavy as we share devastating news regarding a cherished member of our Flyer family, Yvette Hoffman and her husband, Senator John Hoffman,” reads a posting on an online fundraising campaign begun to help with medical and other expenses.

“Mrs. Hoffman is an invaluable part of our Fernbrook community, tirelessly dedicating her time and energy as a support professional,” the posting continued. “She brings joy, compassion, and unwavering support to our students, staff, and families every single day. Her husband, Senator Hoffman, has been a committed advocate for our state, working tirelessly to serve his constituents and improve our communities.”

7:51 a.m. - Sen. Amy Klobuchar said authorities continue to believe the shooter is somewhere in the Midwest.

“We believe he’s somewhere in the vicinity and that they are going to find him,” she said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “But right now, everyone’s on edge here, because we know that this man will kill at a second. We also know that he is clearly off balance, that from the manifesto on some of his writings, some of the things that he has said recently, that he is someone that no one should mess with, except for law enforcement.”

Klobuchar also said that targeting people with ties to abortion rights may have been a motive of the shooter.

“It was politically motivated, and there clearly was some through line with abortion, because of the groups that were on the list and other things that I’ve heard were in this manifesto,” she said. “So that was one of his motivations. But again, they’re also checking out, did he have interaction somehow with these two legislators? Is there more to this?”

7:16 a.m. - The Minnesota Department of Public Safety said there were no major developments overnight. The manhunt for Vance Boelter continues.

6:36 a.m. - Ambulance crews sent to the homes of state Sen. John Hoffman in Champlin and state Rep. Melissa Hortman in Brooklyn Park reported to dispatch the injuries to the two legislators and advised the hospitals.

The Minnesota Star Tribune has obtained audio of the dispatches, which capture the dramatic attempts to save them, and the ongoing threat to first responders, who at one point note that the shooter is still in Hortman’s home.

Listen to the audio here.

6:12 a.m. - Sen. John Hoffman’s wife, Yvette, saved the life of her daughter during the assassination attempt at their Champlin home early Saturday morning, according to Hoffman’s nephew.

A man dressed as a cop “broke into my aunt and uncle’s house and shot him 6 and my aunt 5 times in a political act of terrorism,” the nephew, Mat Ollig, wrote on Facebook. “My aunt threw herself on her daughter, using her body as a shield to save her life.”

In a Saturday afternoon interview with the Minnesota Star Tribune, Ollig said both Hoffmans were out of surgery and recovering.

6:03 a.m. - The manhunt continues for Vance Boelter, the man authorities have identified as a suspect in the “targeted” shootings of Rep. Melissa Hortman and Sen. John Hoffman.