State Rep. Kristin Bahner says Vance Boelter targeted her home
State Rep. Kristin Bahner said that the man who allegedly killed the top Democrat in the Minnesota House also visited her home early Saturday.
"This senseless violence came to my door as well, placing me and my family in harm's way," Bahner, DFL - Maple Grove, wrote in a post on Facebook. "I do not know why this man was filled with such hatred that he would come to my door; divine intervention led my family to change our plans keeping us safe."
According to an FBI investigation, 57-year-old Vance Boelter allegedly shot state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette around 2 a.m. Saturday. Roughly an hour-and-a-half later, he is accused of fatally shooting state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark in their Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, home.
In between the two shootings, investigators said Boelter visited Bahner's Maple Grove home and knocked on her door, but she was away with her family on vacation at the time. He also went to the home of New Hope state Sen. Ann Rest, but encountered police and left the scene.
Police caught up to Boelter at the Hortmans' home, where they exchanged fire with him, the FBI said. Boelter, however, escaped out the back door, and what followed was a roughly 40-hour search that authorities called the largest manhunt in state history. He was taken into custody near his home in Green Isle.
Gov. Tim Walz called his attacks "politically motivated."
"I would walk through fire to follow Melissa," Bahner wrote. "She was strong and steadfast, she believed in cutting through to the essence of what was important. She never wavered from placing the people of Minnesota at the center of our work."
She also offered thoughts and prayers to Hoffman and his wife.
"Over the past several days, I have spent time shielding my family from grief and worry, in the hope that they can remain unscathed. Yet these events rarely leave us without marks; they will forever change us," Bahner said.
Charging documents said officers searched an SUV Boelter allegedly abandoned and found at least three AK-47 assault rifles, a 9mm handgun and a list of names and addresses of other public officials.
He faces two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree attempted murder, according to the criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County Court on Saturday. He also faces six charges in federal court, including stalking and murder.
