The suspect accused of assassinating a Minnesota politician and shooting another this weekend drove to the homes of at least four state politicians as part of a planned killing spree, federal authorities have said.
Vance Boelter, 57, faces state and federal murder charges after he was arrested last night following a massive two-day manhunt that was the largest in state history.
He is accused of fatally shooting Melissa Hortman, the top Democrat in the Minnesota House, and her husband, Mark, in their home on Saturday. He is also charged with shooting and wounding another Democratic politician, state Senator John Hoffman, and his wife Yvette, in their home a few miles away.
Prosecutors said Mr Boelter visited the homes of two other politicians on Saturday disguised as a police officer, looking for more victims on his target list. Investigators have recovered notebooks from his car and residence that detailed some of his planning and included the names of dozens of legislators, mostly or all Democrats, along with abortion rights advocates.
"Political assassinations are rare," Joseph Thompson, Minnesota's acting US attorney, said at a news conference. "They strike at the very core of our democracy."
While he characterised the shootings as politically motivated, Mr Thompson said a precise motive was not yet clear. Contrary to some earlier news reports, authorities have not discovered a "Unabomber-style manifesto," Mr Thompson said.
Mr Boelter is expected to appear remotely in Hennepin County court later to face second-degree murder and attempted murder charges. The county's chief prosecutor, Mary Moriarty, said she will seek first-degree murder charges, which carry a mandatory sentence of life without parole.
Federal prosecutors separately charged Mr Boelter with an array of crimes, including murder, which could lead to a death sentence. He will appear in federal court in St Paul today.
The Minnesota attacks began around 2am on Saturday, when a gunman wearing a police-style tactical vest and a "hyper realistic silicone mask" knocked on the Hoffmans' door in Champlin, announced himself as a police officer and then shot the couple multiple times, according to prosecutors.
He was driving an SUV outfitted with police-style lights and a fake license plate that read 'POLICE'.
Mr Boelter then traveled to the home of another state politician in Maple Grove, where he rang the doorbell at 2.24am, Mr Thompson said. The official, whom prosecutors did not name, was not home.
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Mr Boelter also visited the home of a state senator in New Hope, prosecutors said. An officer dispatched to the house to conduct a wellness check after police learned of the Hoffman shooting believed Mr Boelter, who was parked outside, was another police officer and pulled up next to him.
"He just sat there and stared straight ahead," Mr Thompson said of Boelter. The responding officer went to the door to wait for additional officers, and Mr Boelter had left by the time they arrived, prosecutors said.
Shortly after, police went to the Hortmans' house in Brooklyn Park as a precaution. The arriving officers saw the suspect shoot Mark Hortman through an open door around 3.35am and exchanged fire with him before he fled on foot out the backdoor, according to prosecutors.
Melissa Hortman was already dead inside.
When police searched Mr Boelter's SUV, they discovered three AK-47 assault rifles, a 9-mm handgun, a gold police-style badge and the target list, according to authorities.
Notebooks recovered from Mr Boelter's car, as well as the home where he had been staying, showed he had planned the attacks for some time, prosecutors said.
He had the names and, in some cases, home addresses for more than 45 elected officials, "mostly or all Democrats," according to an FBI affidavit.
In one book, Mr Boelter noted that the Hortmans had two children and included surveillance details about their house, writing, "Big house off golf course 2 ways in to watch from one spot," the affidavit said.
Hours after the shootings, Mr Boelter's wife and other family members received a text message at 6.18am that read, "Dad went to war last night... I don't wanna say more because I don't wanna implicate anybody," according to the affidavit. A second text warned his family to leave the house because some "armed and trigger-happy" people would be arriving.
In addition to her phone, Mr Boelter's wife consented to a search of her car, which turned up two handguns, about $10,000 cash and passports for family members, who were in the car when police came to the house, according to the affidavit.
Authorities said the investigation would determine if Mr Boelter's wife had any role in or was aware of the suspect's plan beforehand. He has five children, according to media reports.
Around 7am on Saturday, Mr Boelter encountered someone at a bus stop in Minneapolis and eventually offered to buy his Buick with cash, according to prosecutors.
Yesterday investigators found the Buick in rural Sibley County, near his listed home address about an hour's drive southwest of Minneapolis. Inside the car, officers found a handwritten letter to the FBI, in which Mr Boelter gave his name and admitted to the shootings, according to the affidavit.
More than 20 SWAT teams combed the area, aided by surveillance aircraft, officials said. Mr Boelter, who was armed, crawled from a wooded area and surrendered peacefully to police in a field.
The killing was the latest in a series of high-profile episodes of political violence across the country, including the attempted assassination of Republican Donald Trump last year and an arson attack at Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro's house in April.
Minnesota US Senator Amy Klobuchar shared on social media a text message from Yvette Hoffman yesterday evening that said her husband, John, had been shot nine times, while she was shot eight times.
"We are both incredibly lucky to be alive," Yvette Hoffman wrote. "We are gutted and devastated by the loss of Melissa and Mark."
