June 14 (UPI) — A police manhunt is underway in Minnesota after two state lawmakers and their spouses were shot overnight in a “politically motivated assassination,” Gov. Tim Walz told reporters Saturday.
Authorities said someone impersonating a police officer shot and killed State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark around 3:30 a.m. CDT in the city of Brooklyn Park, located around 11 miles northwest of Minneapolis.
Around 2 a.m. CDT, a gunman opened fire, hitting State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette “multiple times” in Champlin, Minn., in another targeted shooting.
Walz said during a Saturday news conference he is “cautiously optimistic” Hoffman and his wife will survive the shooting and were out of surgery.
Local police were at Hortman’s residence proactively checking after the earlier shooting.
“At which time, Brooklyn Park police officers encountered an individual who immediately fired at them, and they exchanged gunfire and the individual was able to escape during that exchange of gunfire,” Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans told reporters at the news conference Saturday.
Brooklyn Park and Champlin are both located in Hennepin County, Minn.
A shelter-in-place order remains in place in parts of Brooklyn Park, officials said Saturday, adding “hundreds and hundreds” off personnel are involved in the search for a suspect.
Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley said officers will work in teams and that no single law enforcement official would approach homes to avoid being confused with the suspect.
Residents are also being told to call 911 before opening their doors to anyone claiming to be police to confirm their identity.
Bruley said the suspect was at Hortman’s home wearing police clothing and driving an SUV made to resemble a police vehicle, complete with emergency lights. The suspect then used the “trust of that uniform and badge” to get inside the home.
Police believe the suspect escaped out the back of the home after the exchange of gunfire with police. Officials did seized the SUV used in the crime.
The FBI is also now fully involved in the manhunt, joining local and state-level officials.
“An unspeakable tragedy has unfolded in Minnesota,” Walz said Saturday, addressing Hortman’s death.
“Our state lost a great leader and I lost the dearest of friends.”
Hortman was a former Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives. Both Hortman and Hoffman were members of the Democratic Party.
“She was a fixture and a giant in Minnesota. She is irreplaceable and will be missed by so many,” Walz, a fellow Democrat, told reporters, calling the shooting an “act of targeted political violence.”
Walz pledged the state’s full cooperation to assist with the developing manhunt.
“I’ve activated the State Emergency Operations Center. Local law enforcement in Champlin and Brooklyn Park have the full resources of the State of Minnesota behind them,” he confirmed on X.
