Advertisement

Timeline: How an early morning assault against Minnesota lawmakers unfolded

First call to police reported Sen. John Hoffman and his wife were shot at their home in Champlin.

The Minnesota Star Tribune
June 14, 2025 at 9:16PM
The exterior of DFL state Rep. Melissa Hortman’s Brooklyn Park home is boarded up and surrounded by police tape on Sunday. (Alex Kormann/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

House DFL leader Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were fatally shot early Saturday morning in what Gov. Tim Walz said appears to be a politically motivated assassination.

That came shortly after a gunman shot and wounded state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, at their home in Champlin, according to authorities. Police later identified the suspect as Vance Boelter, 57.

Here’s what officials have said about how the early morning attacks unfolded.

2 a.m. - Champlin police respond to shooting

At about 2 a.m. Saturday, Champlin police got a call that Hoffman and his wife had been shot, said Drew Evans, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

Police responded to the family’s home, and the two were taken to the hospital for surgery, Evans said.

3:35 a.m. - Police check on Rep. Melissa Hortman’s home

Shortly after, at about 3:35 a.m., another call came in that two Brooklyn Park officers were proactively checking Hortman’s home several miles away, Evans said.

Those officers drove down the street and saw what looked like a police SUV in the driveway with emergency lights on, said Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley. A person who appeared to be a police officer was at the door, coming out of the house.

When the officers confronted the person, the person immediately fired on police and retreated into the house after exchanging gunfire, Bruley said.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Bruley said police “believe confidently” the suspect fled out of the back of the house.

The officers went into the house and saw a man with a gunshot wound. They dragged him outside and attempted to give first aid, but he was pronounced dead shortly after.

Law enforcement surrounded the house and used a drone to enter the house and identify Hortman.

Bruley said the SUV at the scene “looked exactly like a police vehicle” and the suspect was wearing a vest, had a taser and other equipment, and had a badge of some type. Bruley said “no question if they were in this room” the person would be mistaken for an officer.

9:46 a.m. - Gov. Walz decries targeted political violence

Walz told reporters at the state Emergency Operations Center that Hortman and her husband were shot and killed.

State and local law enforcement detailed a timeline of events, speaking in front of U.S. and Minnesota flags.

Advertisement

“Our state lost a great leader, and I lost the dearest of friends,” Walz said. “Speaker Hortman was someone who served the people of Minnesota with grace, compassion, humor and a sense of service. She was a formidable public servant.”

Walz said Hortman is “irreplaceable and will be missed by so many.”

The governor said that “peaceful discourse is the foundation of our democracy” and “we don’t settle our differences with violence, or at gunpoint.”

Walz said Minnesota lawmakers earlier this week had passed a state budget through the most politically divided Legislature in the country.

“We proved that it’s possible, even in these politically charged times to find compromise and adhere to the principles of democracy and civil discourse,” Walz said. “We must all, Minnesota and across the country, stand against all forms of political violence.”

3:05 p.m. - Police ask for help finding suspect

Authorities named a suspect in the shootings, 57-year-old Vance Boelter, and asked the public for help finding him.

Advertisement
Advertisement

They showed a picture of Boelter wearing a light-colored cowboy hat in footage taken from a Minneapolis business. In the photo, Boelter was wearing a coat and light pants and carrying a dark bag.

Boelter is 6 feet, 1 inch tall, weighs 220 pounds and has brown eyes and brown hair, Evans said.

Evans said police are investigating at sites in Green Isle, in Sibley County and Minneapolis.

Evans said law enforcement is working diligently on understanding what could have motivated Boelter and they have “some indications” but not enough specifics.

“It would be premature for me at this point to really say exactly what the motivation might be from these writings,” Evans said.

Advertisement
about the writer

about the writer

Walker Orenstein

Reporter

Walker Orenstein covers energy, natural resources and sustainability for the Star Tribune. Before that, he was a reporter at MinnPost and at news outlets in Washington state.

See Moreicon
Advertisement
Advertisement