Gunman dressed as police officer kills prominent Minnesota lawmaker

SCOTT DETROW, HOST:

We are starting the show this evening with the latest on the apparent assassination early today of a prominent Minnesota lawmaker and the manhunt to find the killer. Authorities say a man dressed as a police officer killed Minnesota state representative Melissa Hortman as well as her husband in their home. They say he also wounded a state senator and his wife in their home not far away. Both of these lawmakers are Democrats. Police say they found a list of other possible political targets in the suspect's car, which looked like a police car.

We're joined now by Minnesota Public Radio's Clay Masters in St. Paul. Clay, this happened around 2 or 3 a.m. What are authorities saying they know about what happened?

CLAY MASTERS, BYLINE: Yeah, Scott, first off, it's important to note that these suburbs northwest of Minneapolis really aren't that far apart. So officers got a call to Senator Hoffman's home, found that he and his wife had been shot. An officer decided they should check on Speaker Hortman's residence. And when they got to her home, they saw what appeared to be a police SUV in the driveway and a man dressed as an officer. That was the suspect who has now been identified, and they fired upon the officers - the suspect did - and then went back into the home. Responding officers found Speaker Hortman's husband Mark's body and tried to save him. He as dead. They sent a drone in and found the body of Speaker Hortman. And I should say that Senator Hoffman, last we know, is in stable condition in a hospital.

DETROW: In the meantime, the suspect is still on the loose. What do we know about the search for the killer?

MASTERS: Yeah, public safety officials recently wrapped up a press conference not long ago, where they identified 57-year-old Vance Boelter and shared images of him. He was wearing a cowboy hat and was still in the twin cities and possibly leaving the metro. The head of the state's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said the suspect had some overlap in public meetings with Senator Hoffman. They don't know the nature of that relationship or if they actually knew each other.

So Scott, he's still at large. Officials say he had what - a list in the vehicle with a list of lawmakers and other targeted individuals. We can confirm U.S. Senator Tina Smith and the state's Attorney General Keith Ellison, both Democrats, were on that list, and investigators have not ruled out the possibility that the suspect had accomplices. They haven't ruled that out.

DETROW: Clay, this happened on a day with rallies scheduled all across the state, all across the country in protest of the Trump administration. What is the latest on the various reactions you're seeing to these shootings, especially given this context of when it happened?

MASTERS: Yeah. I mean, there's been expression of shock and outrage from politicians across the board. Public safety officials had asked people not to attend these anti-Trump rallies, dubbed No Kings, but thousands still did. We saw them in the streets of St. Paul today. Governor Tim Walz was supposed to speak at the one in St. Paul but did not. And, you know, Melissa Hortman was a very prominent politician. She'd been the speaker of the House from 2019 up until this year. She was respected by both Democratic and Republican politicians and was part of the leaders who navigated just an incredibly close - incredibly closely divided legislature and contentious year this year.

DETROW: That was Minnesota Public Radio's Clay Masters. Clay, always good to talk to you. Thank you.

MASTERS: Likewise. You're welcome.

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