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A gunman in Minnesota is currently at large after disturbing images captured the suspect wearing a sinister Halloween-style mask before carrying out a ‘politically motivated assassination.’
State Representative Melissa Hortman and Democrat State Senator John Hoffman were targeted in a violent shooting spree in the early hours of Saturday.
Tragically, Hortman and her husband were killed, while Hoffman and his wife sustained severe injuries and underwent emergency surgery. However, authorities remain ‘cautiously optimistic’ about their recovery.
The suspect has been identified as 57-year-old Vance Boelter – an employee of security company Praetorian Guard Security, where he works as the director of security patrols, according to the website.
Chilling photos that emerged Saturday afternoon depict the suspect, who is still on-the-run, donning an unsettling costume mask covering his entire head.
Police say Boelter wore the eerie face-concealing disguise with a police uniform as he posed as a cop and gunned down the lawmakers.
FBI investigators believe the shootings were politically motivated and are offering a $50,000 reward to for information leading to his whereabouts.
Boelter’s best friend and roommate David Carlson told local news outlet KARE11 he is an avid Donald Trump supporter and voted for the Republican candidate.
Terrifying new images show the suspect behind Saturday’s ‘politically motivated assassinations’ wearing a creepy Halloween-style mask while launching his killing spree
Police say Boelter wore the eerie face-concealing disguise with a police uniform as he posed as a cop and gunned down the lawmakers
They believe Boelter is attempting ‘to potentially flee’ the Twin Cities – Minneapolis and St. Paul, The Washington Post reported.
Minnesota authorities admitted they let the gunman slip away, despite engaging him in a firefight immediately after the murders at around 4am local time Saturday.
The first shooting occurred just after 2am at Hoffman’s home in Champlin, about 20 miles from Minneapolis. Hoffman and his wife were shot multiple times and are reportedly stable following surgery.
The second attack took place at around 4am at Hortman’s Brooklyn Park residence, about eight miles south.
Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley said the suspect’s vehicle – which was made to look like a cop car – contained a ‘manifesto’, a list of 70 targets including both lawmakers, and signs for an anti-Trump ‘NO KINGS’ rally set to be held on Saturday.
A Minnesota official who has seen the suspect’s ‘hit list’ told CNN that it specifically mentioned ‘prominent pro-choice individuals in Minnesota, including many Democratic lawmakers who have been outspoken about pro-choice policy positions.’
It was later revealed that the alarming list featured doctors, healthcare centers and Planned Parenthoods, The New York Times reported.
Several former and current politicians, as well as Minnesota community and business leaders, were also listed. Some targets were reportedly out of state.
Daniel Carlson (pictured) tearfully read aloud text messages from the accused assassin
The FBI and other law enforcement agencies have been frantically searching for Boelter, who is believed to be trying to flee the Twin Cities area
Authorities are in the process of going through that list and urgently alerting those who were named.
The night before the deadly shots were fired, Boelter texted his roommates he was ‘going to be gone for a while.’
Carlson, who shared a North Minneapolis home with Boelter, tearfully read aloud text messages from the accused assassin.
‘David and Ron, I love you guys,’ the eerie note began. ‘I made some choices, and you guys don’t know anything about this, but I’m going to be gone for a while.’
He also said he ‘may be dead shortly’ and did not wish to involve Carlson or his other roommate Ron Ramsey.
‘I don’t know why he did what he did,’ Carlson told KARE 11.
‘It’s just it’s not Vance. … He had lots of friends, trust me, and I wish I could have been there to stop him.’
Members of Minnesota communities and beyond have been reeling as the frantic manhunt for shooting suspect Vance Boelter rages on.
FBI investigators believe the shootings were politically motivated and are offering a $50,000 reward to for information leading to his whereabouts
Salt Lake County, Utah Mayor Jenny Wilson also expressed her heartbreak over the four victims of the shootings
‘What happened today is simply incomprehensible and unimaginable, certainly in the context of Minnesota,’ Norm Coleman, a former senator from Minnesota and former mayor of St. Paul, said, according to The New York Times.
Senator Tina Smith of Minnesota also spoke out about the death of State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, saying she was ‘shattered’ by the news.
She and Senator Amy Klobuchar had just seen the victims at a dinner party on Friday night.
Beyond Minnesota, Senator Chris Coons of Delaware has also shared a statement denouncing political violence in America.
Salt Lake County, Utah Mayor Jenny Wilson also expressed her heartbreak over the four victims of the shootings.
