Law enforcement officers including local police, sheriffs and the FBI, stage less than a mile from a shooting in Brooklyn Park, Minn. Alex Kormann/Star Tribune via AP
Update, 2:45: This story has been updated to reflect the shooter’s alleged intent to target protesters.
A massive manhunt is underway in Minnesota, as law enforcement searches for the shooter responsible for the deaths of one state lawmaker and her spouse and the injuries of another lawmaker and his spouse, in what are described as two separate but “targeted shootings.”
In a news conference Saturday morning, Gov. Tim Walz said, “This was an act of targeted political violence.”
Democratic state Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark have died, the governor confirmed. Meanwhile, Democratic state Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette were shot several times and after surgery are reported to be recovering. Walz described himself as being “cautiously optimistic” that they will survive the attacks. Both lawmakers were members of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor party.
The identity of the shooter is not known, but authorities are speculating that the person may have been impersonating law enforcement when they appeared at the respective homes, which are located in the Minneapolis suburbs. A shelter-in-place alert has been issued for the community.
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety reported that at approximately 2 a.m. officers appeared at the home of Sen. Hoffman after receiving notice of the shooting. According to the local ABC affiliate KLTV, “When they arrived, they saw an SUV equipped with lights, mimicking a squad vehicle, and were confronted by a man dressed as an officer. DPS reported the man fired at police, who returned fire, before retreating into the home.”
The Minnesota Star Tribune reports:
Authorities investigating the shooting recovered an alleged manifesto.“There was a list of individuals and the individuals that were targeted were on that list,” said Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans.“When we did a search of the vehicle there was a manifesto that identified many lawmakers and other officials, we immediately made alerts to the state, who took action on alerting them and providing security where necessary,” Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley added.
The New York Times reports that according to police, the suspect was intending to also target “No Kings” protests in the area. In response, all protests were canceled.
This is a developing story.
