Suspected Minnesota Lawmaker Assassin Captured | Crime Alert 6AM 06.16.25

Vance Boelter, the individual suspected of shooting two Minnesota legislators and their spouses in a series of politically charged attacks early Saturday morning, is now in police custody.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Crime Alert im Nancy Grace Breaking Crime News now joining
us a co partner standing by with the latest.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
Nancy Vance Boler, the individual suspected of shooting two Minnesota
legislators and their spouses in a series of politically charged
attacks early Saturday morning, is now in police custody, according
to a press release. On Sunday evening, Boltler, fifty seven,
was apprehended close to his residence in green Isle, located

(00:27):
in Sibley County, just before ten pm. The Ramsey County
Sheriff's Office shared an image on social media that seems
to depict Botler being arrested. Authorities reportedly discovered a vehicle
and a hat belonging to the suspect in the shooting
of the state lawmakers, State Representative Melissa Hortman and her

(00:47):
husband Mark, and State Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette.
On Sunday, tactical units were deployed to a remote area
of Minnesota after officers located what they believed to be
a black Buick tied to Vance Boler, fifty seven, who
is accused of killing that Democratic state legislator and attempting

(01:07):
to murder another. As investigators broadened their search for Botler
throughout the state. They identified the car in Sibley County,
along with that hat he had left behind. Approximately an
hour's dry from the scene of Saturday's violence, law enforcement
cladden tactical gear raced down a rural highway while emergency

(01:28):
alerts on cell phones urged local residents to secure their
homes and vehicles. By Sunday afternoon, a checkpoint was established
near the suspect's residence in green Isle, Minnesota, with police
vehicles gathered in the vicinity and the FBI present. A
State patrol helicopter circled overhead as heavily armed officers conducted

(01:50):
door to door searches, combing through barnes, silos and wooded areas.
Police say they received a tip that Boler was in
the area. That's when swat Teames soon located him. Officials
had requested the assistance from the public, offering a reward
of fifty thousand dollars for any information leading to his capture.

(02:10):
On Saturday morning, Butler's wife was apprehended by police about
seventy miles from the location of the shooting. According to
Sheriff Kyle Burton, she and other family members had cooperated
with investigators and were not in custody as of Sunday evening,
stated Drew Evans, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

(02:30):
Investigators revealed that during the attack, the suspect impersonated a
police officer wearing a ballistic vest, gloves, and a mask
to conceal his identity while shooting representative Melissa Hortman and
her husband Mark. Police nearly captured Boler at the time,
but he fled on foot after a brief exchange of

(02:51):
gunfire with officers and a separate vehicle associated with the
suspect that was abandoned at the shooting site, authorities discovered
a notebook containing a list of lawmakers and various notes,
as detailed by mister Evans during a press briefing.

Speaker 3 (03:06):
In terms of what's been referred to manifesto, I want
to clarify for everybody and just for this this is
not a document, because I think it's important for the
public to understand that would be like a traditional manifesto
that's a treatise on all kinds of ideology and writings.
This is a notebook with a lot of that's been
reported of lawmakers and others that are listed in here,

(03:28):
and then much more other thoughts that are throughout this
as opposed to a succinct document that's providing long and
it's in mixed in with other documents. So that's where
this is coming from.

Speaker 2 (03:41):
More on this breaking story. After this, former House speaker
Melissa Hartman and her husband Mark tragically lost their lives
in their Brooklyn Park home early Saturday morning. Meanwhile, Senator
John Hoffman and his wife Events stained serious injuries at

(04:02):
their home in Champlain, located about nine miles away. Both
were shot at least eight times and have undergone multiple surgeries.
Authorities say fifty nine year old Advance Boulder, the prime suspect,
wore a mask and impersonated a police officer, even modifying
a vehicle to resemble a police car. Law enforcement conducted

(04:22):
searches of the vehicle on a secluded road as the
state grappled with the shocking nature of this politically motivated crime.
The search was concentrated in a rural Sibley County area
about fifty miles southwest of Minneapolis, where Bolter lived with
his wife and five children. Residents received an emergency alert
regarding the vehicle and advising them to secure and lock

(04:46):
their homes and cars. Authorities also recovered a list of
around seventy names from ridings found in that fake police
vehicle at the crime scene. This list included notable state
and federal lawmakers, community the leaders, abortion rights advocates, and
details regarding health care facilities. Several ak style firearms were

(05:08):
confiscated from the suspects vehicle. Boler is a former political
appointee who served on the same state Workforce Development Board
as Hoffman, although it remains unclear how well they knew
each other. At around six am on Saturday, Bolter sent
text to friends expressing regrets for his actions, without specifically

(05:29):
saying what he had done. He said, I'm going to
be gone for a while. Here's one of those friends
speaking to CBS News.

Speaker 3 (05:37):
He just.

Speaker 4 (05:40):
Felt he made he made some choices, and you know
he's he was planning some things that we didn't have
all that we didn't all about them, is what he said,
and then that he might be dead soon in law
for a long time.

Speaker 2 (06:03):
Police responded to gunfire reports at the Hoffsman's home just
after two am Saturday, discovering the couple with multiple gunshot wounds.
Local police from Brooklyn Park who were on the scene,
decided to check on Hortman's nearby home, as stated by
police Chief Mark Browley. Upon arriving, officers encountered what appeared

(06:24):
to be a police vehicle and a man dressed as
an officer exiting the house. When confronted, he fired at
the officers, who returned fire. The suspect then retreated into
the home and escaped on foot, leaving behind the vehicle
designed to mimic a police car, where authorities later found
those ridings. Stay with Crime Alert hourly update as we

(06:46):
continue to follow this developing story.

Speaker 1 (06:49):
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With this crime al art I, Nancy Grace