Vance Boelter, accused of shooting 2 state legislators, is apprehended

FAXON TOWNSHIP, MINN. – Vance Boelter, the man who remained on the run Sunday night on suspicion that he shot two state legislators and their spouses a day earlier in their Twin Cities homes, was apprehended Sunday, officials said late Sunday.

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Earlier Sunday, law enforcement found a car Boelter owns abandoned in a field a few miles from his Green Isle home. The discovery was first disclosed Sunday morning in an emergency alert from the Sibley County Sheriff’s Office to cellphones in the area where the vehicle was found, near Hwy. 25 and 301st Avenue in Faxon Township, about 45 miles southwest of Minneapolis.

The black Buick sedan was later seen on the side of the gravel road with its doors open, surrounded by a law enforcement perimeter.

During a news media briefing as evening arrived Sunday, state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans said “there is a nationwide warrant for his arrest for the murders and the attempted murders” at the state level and federally for avoiding capture.

Evans said there was “evidence in that car that is relevant to our investigation” indicating Boelter was in the vehicle. But Evans declined to go into detail.

The superintendent added that “a hat that he was wearing was found in proximity to that vehicle, which is what has led us to believing he was in that area.”

Earlier Sunday afternoon, the abandoned car in Faxon Township was put on a flatbed tow truck and taken to Bureau of Criminal Apprehension headquarters in St. Paul. The license plate matches the one listed in an emergency alert issued in South Dakota by law enforcement in connection with the search for Boelter.

Evans said Minnesota officials routinely notify neighboring states when suspects are being sought, and added, “We were never tracking and believing that the individual went to South Dakota.”

State records show the car is registered to Boelter and one of his daughters. However, the car that was towed was black, while the South Dakota alert and the vehicle registration list the color as maroon.

Mike Liebhard, 59, said he drove out from his home on 301st Avenue Sunday morning and saw a black, “older little car, like a Buick” on the side of the road near the intersection with Hwy. 25. The area was already “full of cops,” he said.

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

He also saw a cowboy hat, similar to what Boelter was believed to be wearing, on the gravel road near the intersection. Officers were seen searching the area near the car and exiting from a nearby woods about 1:40 p.m. The vehicle appeared to be a black sedan with its doors open. Members of the media were allowed to get no closer than about a mile from the vehicle. Parked to the south on the highway were at least a half-dozen police squad cars.

The car’s discovery followed the detention of Boelter’s wife, along with three relatives, by law enforcement more than 100 miles from the Boelters’ 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.

Evans said state investigators “met with his family, not just his wife, but other family members” to help understand what is going on with Vance Boelter.

He said the family members “were very cooperative with us providing the information we needed,” and none were taken into custody.

Burton said the stop occurred between 10:30 and 11 a.m. Saturday outside the Casey’s convenience store just off Hwy. 169 in Onamia.

“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,” Burton said.

A store employee told the Minnesota Star Tribune that she saw the vehicles’ occupants — two young women, an older woman and a young man — seated in lawn chairs behind the store while under the watch of state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension agents.

The employee, who asked that her name not be included in this report, said everyone remained on scene from about 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“The BCA told me they were questioning some people you may or may not have seen on the news,” the employee said.

“Everything was calm as could be,” she said, adding that no one was handcuffed and no agents drew weapons. “[The agents] walked them in to go to the bathroom. They came in and got them pizza and beverages.”

The vehicles’ occupants “did leave with the BCA,” the employee said. “They all went in a line of eight or nine cars and headed south toward Milaca.”

The Minnesota Star Tribune reached out Sunday morning by phone to Jenny Boelter. Someone who answered the call said she was not available to speak at the moment.

Vance Boelter, 57, has been on the run since before dawn Saturday as a suspect in the killing of state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman, at their Brooklyn Park home. He’s also wanted on allegations that he shot and wounded state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette Hoffman, at their home in Champlin.

Sarah Nelson of the Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this report.