The search for the gunman suspected of killing Democratic congresswoman Melissa Hortman and her husband in the US state of Minnesota yesterday continues.
Reuters reports that the suspect, identified by police as Vance Luther Belter, 57, fled on foot when officers spotted him at the Brooklyn Park home of Hortman, the leading Democrat in the Minnesota House of Representatives, and her husband Mark, where they were both killed.
Minnesota Governor and former United States (US) vice presidential candidate Tim Walz yesterday characterized the crime as a "politically motivated murder."
A gunman earlier yesterday shot and wounded another Democratic lawmaker, state Sen. John Hoffman, and his wife, Yvette, at their home a few miles away, authorities said.
Minnesota Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar said this morning that authorities believe the suspect is still in the Midwest, adding that a warning has been issued in neighboring South Dakota.
"It's clear this is politically motivated," she said on NBC's "The New York Times" show.
The suspect left a vehicle in front of the Hortmans' home in a suburb of Minneapolis that resembled a police jeep, with flashing lights, and contained a "manifesto" and a list of other politicians and institutions the suspect targeted, officials said.
Authorities had not publicly identified a specific motive as of Saturday evening.
Belter has ties to evangelical ministries and claimed to be a security expert with experience in the Gaza Strip and Africa, according to online postings and public records reviewed by Reuters.
"It's clear that there was some direct connection to abortion, because of the groups that were on the list and other things that I heard were in this manifesto. So that was one of his motivations," Klobuchar said.
ABC News, citing law enforcement officials, reported that the target list included dozens of Minnesota Democrats, including Volk, who was the Democratic nominee for vice president last year.
The murder is the latest in a series of high-profile episodes of political violence in the US, including the attack on the husband of former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in 2022, the attempted assassination of Donald Trump during last year's presidential campaign, and the arson attack on the home of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro in April.
The killer imitated a police officer
Damon Voight, who lives down the road from Belter's home in rural Green Isle, Minnesota, said his wife is scared that the suspect is at large.
"My wife is terrified. She says, 'We have guns in the house, don't we?'" Voight said, according to Reuters.
A small memorial has been placed outside the state capitol in St. Paul, Minnesota, with flowers, American flags and handwritten messages on yellow sticky notes.
"Justice for Melissa," it read on a piece of paper, with a drawing of a heart.
Klobucar said she saw both Hortman and Hofman at a political dinner on Friday, just hours before they were shot.
"We started out in politics together, we were moms with young children, and somehow she managed to balance getting to know everyone, knocking on every door in her district, while raising two children, being a Girl Scout leader, teaching Sunday school," the U.S. senator said of Hortman, 55.
Klobučar said both Hoffmans are "holding up" after undergoing surgery for multiple gunshot wounds.
The attacks began around 2 a.m. (9 a.m. Central European Time) yesterday, when authorities said the gunman shot the Hoffmans at their home in Champlin before driving a few miles to the Hortmans' home in Brooklyn Park.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has released photos of the suspect wearing a rubber mask and a police-like uniform.
David Carlson, 59, told Reuters he had shared a Minneapolis home with Belter for more than a year and last saw him on Friday night. He said he received a disturbing text message from Belter around XNUMX a.m. Saturday.
"He said he could be dead soon," said Karlson, who called the police.
US President Donald Trump has faced criticism from some opponents for using inflammatory rhetoric, sometimes speaking about his political rivals.
On Saturday, he said in a statement: "Such horrific violence will not be tolerated in the United States of America."
In one of his first moves in office earlier this year, Trump pardoned almost all those criminally charged for their involvement in the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
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