THE suspect in the Minnesota shootings has been identified as a former appointee of Governor Tim Walz.

In the early hours of Saturday, a gunman posing as a police officer shot and killed Minnesota Rep Melissa Hortman and her husband at their home.

He also shot Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette multiple times at their home just hours beforehand leaving them seriously injured.

Hoffman and his wife have both undergone surgery and are said to be in a stable condition.

As law enforcement kicks off a wide-ranging search for the shooter, insiders familiar with the development, who requested anonymity, have identified the suspect as 57-year-old Vance Boelter.

Boelter is a former appointee of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, per the Post.

Documents obtained by the outlet show that he was appointed by Walz in 2019 to serve on his Workforce Development Board for four years.

In 2016 he was on the Workforce Development Council under the previous Governor Mark Dayton.