Minnesota Ass***ination Suspect Stopped At 4 Democratic Politicians’ Homes

The suspect in the shooting deaths of Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, stopped at “no less than four” homes of Minnesota state legislators very early Saturday before ultimately fleeing under police gunfire.

All of the targets were Democrats.

Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson outlined 57-year-old Vance Boelter’s alleged movements in a press conference Monday announcing federal homicide charges against him that carry the possibility of the death penalty.

The six charges included shooting Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, murdering the Hortmans, and stalking both couples.

Thompson declined to name the two other homes where Boelter did not fire any rounds, saying the lawmakers could identify themselves if they so wished.

“This is the stuff of nightmares,” Thompson told reporters, adding that Boelter stalked his targets “like prey.”

The deadly rampage, carried out by a suspect dressed convincingly like a police officer, began at the home of Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman around 2 a.m., and concluded at the Hortmans’ after 3:30 a.m.

Prosecutors say that Boelter wore a black tactical vest, body armor, a “hyperrealistic silicone mask” and held a flashlight and 9mm Beretta handgun, with more weapons including ***ault-style rifles in his SUV, which was decked out to look like a real police vehicle.

A security camera at the Hoffmans’ residence captured the suspect’s approach.

The couple opened up when Boelter allegedly shouted, “This is the police! Open the door!”

He initially shined the flashlight into the couple’s faces, Thompson said. When the flashlight was lowered, the Hoffmans began yelling at the man, “You’re not a cop!”

Boelter then allegedly told them he was there to rob them. He tried to push into the house, shooting the couple, and fled while the Hoffmans’ daughter called 911.

Thompson said Boelter subsequently went to two other houses before ending up at the Hortmans’.

At one home, in Maple Park, Minnesota, the residents were away on vacation.

At another, in New Hope, Minnesota, a real law enforcement officer on the scene appeared to act as a deterrent.

Thompson said that word of the shooting at the Hoffmans’ Champlin, Minnesota, home had put law enforcement on alert. A New Hope Police officer attempted to speak with the suspect in his SUV while waiting for backup at the unnamed lawmaker’s home, but received no response; he departed before the backup arrived.

Officers had also set out to check on the Hortmans in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, arriving around the same time as the suspect.

A chaotic scene then played out, with Boelter allegedly rushing into the home to shoot the couple — in sight of police officers — before fleeing out the back under gunfire. The couple’s daughter, Hope Hortman, called 911.

The Hortmans were rushed to a hospital, but both died of their injuries.

Law enforcement found the suspect’s tactical gear, weapon and mask discarded along his flight path.

The violence sparked the largest manhunt in Minnesota state history, which culminated Sunday when officers arrested Boelter on Sunday in a wooded area in Minnesota after he was spotted on a trail camera by a local resident. He was initially charged with state-level murder counts, which are expected to proceed alongside the federal case.

Boelter is expected to appear in federal court at 1:30 p.m. local time.

Prosecutors have so far declined to speculate on a motive in the shootings, although they confirmed that hundreds of pages of maps, notebooks and the names of other potential targets had been discovered in the back of the suspect’s SUV.

“Let me say this: There’s been a lot of press coverage and speculation and discussion about a manifesto. I’ve seen nothing like a Unabomber-style manifesto in his writings,” Thompson said.

“He had many, many notebooks full of plans, lists of names, surveillance,” he went on. “But I have not seen anything involving sort of a political screed or manifesto that would clearly identify what motivated him.”