2025 shootings of Minnesota legislators
| 2025 shootings of Minnesota legislators | |
|---|---|
| Location | Brooklyn Park and Champlin, Minnesota, United States |
| Date | June 14, 2025 2:00 – 3:35 a.m. (CDT) |
| Target | Democratic legislators |
Attack type | Spree shooting, assassination, attempted assassination |
| Weapon | 9mm Beretta 92 |
| Deaths | 2 |
| Injured | 2 |
| Victims | Democratic legislators and their spouses |
| Accused | Vance Luther Boelter |
| Charges |
|
On June 14, 2025, Minnesota state representative Melissa Hortman was assassinated in a shooting at her home in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, United States. Hortman, the leader of the state house Democratic caucus, was killed alongside her husband, Mark. Earlier that morning, state senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were shot in their home in nearby Champlin and were hospitalized. Police responding to the attack on the Hoffmans checked on the Hortmans' home, where a man fired at them. The shooter escaped, sparking the most extensive manhunt in Minnesota history.
The authorities identified 57-year-old Vance Luther Boelter as a suspect and captured him a day later in the evening in Green Isle, Minnesota. He was federally charged with murder, stalking, and firearms offenses. The state accused Boelter of two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder. Hennepin County attorney Mary Moriarty announced her intention to upgrade the charges to first-degree murder before a grand jury.
John Hoffman is a member of the state's Democratic Party-affiliated DFL, as was Melissa Hortman. Federal charging documents described Boelter as acting with "the intent to kill, injure, harass, and intimidate Minnesota legislators," and Governor Tim Walz described the shooting as "an act of targeted political violence." Inside Boelter's vehicle was a target list of nearly 70 people, including abortion rights advocates, Democratic politicians, and abortion providers.