CHILLING details about the arrest of the man accused of shooting two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses have been revealed.
Vance Boelter, 57, was apprehended on Sunday night following a two-day manhunt initiated after he fatally shot Minnesota representative Melissa Hortman in what authorities described as a “targeted attack.”
Boelter allegedly fatally shot Hortman and her husband early Saturday morning after attacking state Senator John Hoffman and his wife at their home.
During the weekend, while the gunman remained at large, Sibley County residents received an emergency alert advising them to secure their homes. Boelter was ultimately captured on Sunday night in a wooded area near his residence.
Cops surrounded Boelter and called him out, Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley said at a press conference after the arrest.
“Boelter then crawled to law enforcement teams and was taken into custody at that moment,” stated Minnesota State Patrol Lt. Col. Jeremy Geiger.
SWAT teams and other members of law enforcement had shut down roads and surrounded a property off Highway 25 between Green Isle and Belle Pointe where they found a vehicle connected to Boelter.
Lying on the road, they also found the cowboy hat Boelter was last seen wearing in CCTV footage from the Twin Cities area.
Hours after the double shooting, Boelter sent his roommate a string of chilling text messages where he said, “I may be dead shortly.”
“I made some choices, and you guys don’t know anything about this, but I’m going to be gone for a while,” he said to his friends David and Ron.
“May be dead shortly, so I just want to let you know I love you guys both and I wish it hadn’t gone this way.”
He had last been seen in the Twin Cities area on Saturday morning wearing a cowboy hat, a dark long-sleeved shirt and light pants as officials feared he was preparing to flee.
His wife, Jenny Boelter, was later detained after a traffic stop when cops found she was carrying weapons, cash, and passports.
She was stopped and questioned by police while she was driving with several relatives near Onamia, Minnesota around 10 am on Saturday.
Cops reportedly held her for questioning but she was not arrested.
The couple used to run the Praetorian Guard Security company.
NIGHT OF TERROR
Cops named the 57-year-old as a suspect on June 14 after shootings were reported at the homes of Hortman and Senator John Hoffman in the early hours of the morning.
Both Hortman and her husband Mark were pronounced dead at their home in Brooklyn Park.
Hoffman and his wife Yvette underwent surgery after suffering multiple gunshot wounds at their residence in Champlin just five miles away from the Hortmans.
Officials said they are “cautiously optimistic” that the pair will survive what Governor Tim Walz called an “unspeakable tragedy” and a “politically motivated assassination.”
The Hoffman’s nephew revealed that the couple had been shot 11 times during the horror attack.
He shared in a Facebook post how his aunt Yvette had thrown herself on top of her daughter to protect her.
The first shooting was reported at the Senator’s home just after 2 am and while cops were attending the incident, the second shooting was being carried out at the Hortman’s home.
At 3:35 am the second call came in as officers who were sent to check in on the DFL speaker, ran into the gunman posing as a police officer, and exchanged fire with him before he fled.
They then found the bodies of Melissa and her husband inside the property.
The FBI announced a $50,000 reward for any information leading the arrest and conviction of Boelter.
A release by the agency on Saturday night revealed that while posing as a police officer, Boelter had donned a creepy latex mask before allegedly shooting and killing Hortman and her husband.
An image released by the FBI shows a man, believed to be Boelter, in what appears to be a full police uniform complete with a vest and taser holding up a flashlight at the door of the residence
The bald-headed latex mask covered his head and face completely.
