Vance Boelter, the madman who assassinated Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, and who shot Senator John Hoffman and his wife, has been apprehended in rural Sibley County, Minnesota.
An intense statewide manhunt that spanned hundreds of square miles in the state is over. For much of the day, the manhunt was concentrated in Sibley County, where Boelter’s family lived. Police conducted an extremely thorough search of the area using every resource available, but ultimately it was a drone operator who discovered him.
Boelter surrendered to the drone, raising his hands, and he subsequently surrendered to SWAT officers who took him into custody.
BREAKING: Sources tell me the multi-agency task force including MN State Patrol arrested Boelter in the past 10 minutes. He’s been captured alive near Green Isle where a manhunt has been focused all day.
— Tom Hauser (@thauserkstp) June 16, 2025
The Star Tribune, which as of this writing has yet to post an updated story, outlined the timeline of the manhunt up to now:
Authorities identified the suspect as 57-year-old Vance Boelter. A manhunt is underway to locate him.
Officials said the suspect left at the scene a list of politicians. A person who has seen the list said it included several abortion rights supporters, including lawmakers. Sen. Amy Klobuchar appeared on the list, according to federal law enforcement sources. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison also said he was on the list.
There has been considerable speculation about Boelter’s motives, ranging from his being a crazed left-wing lunatic angry about the state passing a budget that cut off free health care for illegal aliens, to Boelter being a crazed right-wing assassin taking out the most vocal advocates of abortion.
The truth is that we don’t know anything, other than that killing politicians for political reasons is evil. He is, in other words, crazed.
My own impression is that Boelter is a man with big dreams and small accomplishments. He has portrayed himself as a mover and shaker, and he has wheedled his way onto government commissions–appointments by Democratic governors Mark Dayton and Tim Walz–but it’s pretty clear that he is all hat and no cattle. His family business–Praetorian Security Services–at this point looks like it never had any customers, but that is unconfirmed.
Boelter bragged about having executive-level positions in the food industry, but not so long ago, he was a manager at a 7-11. Until February he was working at a funeral home removing bodies.
SAVAGE, Minn. — Vance Boelter, the suspect in the killing of Rep. Melissa Hortman (DFL-Brooklyn Park) and her husband, Mark, voluntarily left his job at a funeral home earlier this year, according to his former boss.
“We would like to extend our thoughts and condolences to the families of Rep. Hortman and Sen. Hoffman. This is devastating news for all involved. As far as Vance Boelter is concerned, he worked for our company from August 28, 2023, until he voluntarily left on February 20, 2025,” said a statement from the owner of Metro First Call, a funeral home based in Savage.
