By Tom Polansek

MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) -Minnesota Police and the FBI kept up a massive manhunt on Saturday evening for a gunman posing as a police officer who killed a senior Democratic state assemblywoman and her husband in what Governor Tim Walz called a "politically motivated assassination."

The suspect, identified as 57-year-old Vance Luther Boelter, also allegedly shot and wounded a second lawmaker and his spouse, according to law enforcement officials and the FBI.

He fled on foot after firing at police at the home of slain former Minnesota House speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark.

Law enforcement officials said the suspect abandoned a vehicle that looked like a police SUV, in which officers found a "manifesto" and a target list of other politicians and institutions.

Boelter should be considered armed and dangerous and is believed to still be in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans told a news briefing, adding that it was too soon to determine a motive.

The suspect had links 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. Boelter also described himself online as a former employee of food service companies and was appointed in 2016 by Walz' predecessor to the advisory Governor's Workforce Development Board, according to state records.

David Carlson, 59, told Reuters that he has been sharing a house in Minneapolis with Boelter for a little more than a year and last saw him on Friday night. Then about 6 a.m. (1100 GMT) on Saturday, he received a text from Boelter.

"He said that he might be dead soon," said Carlson, who called police.

The list found in the vehicle abandoned by the suspect contained about 70 names, including abortion providers, and lawmakers in Minnesota and other states, CNN reported, citing law enforcement sources. Officials said the Hortmans and the other victims - state Senator John Hoffman and his wife - were on the list.

ABC News, also citing law enforcement officials, said the list included dozens of Minnesota Democrats including Walz, U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar, Senator Tina Smith and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.

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POLITICAL MOTIVATION?

Melissa Hortman, a 55-year-old mother of two who had served 20 years in the Minnesota House of Representatives, was remembered by Walz as someone with "grace, compassion and tirelessness."

Walz, who was Kamala Harris' Democratic vice presidential running mate in last year's election, said the gunman went to the Hortmans' residence after shooting the Hoffmans multiple times in their home in the nearby town of Champlin.

The Hoffmans underwent surgery, Walz said, adding that he was "cautiously optimistic" that they would survive "this assassination attempt."

"This was an act of targeted political violence," he said. "Peaceful discourse is the foundation of our democracy. We don't settle our differences with violence or at gunpoint."

The shootings prompted reactions of shock and horror from Republican and Democratic politicians across the country and calls for dialing back increasingly divisive political rhetoric.

The incident comes on the heels of a heated hearing in Congress on Thursday, in which Walz and two other Democratic governors defended their states' policies to maintain sanctuary for undocumented immigrants, drawing attacks from Republicans who support Trump's aggressive immigration crackdown.

The Minnesota State Patrol chief, Colonel Christina Bogojevic, said police had found flyers in the suspect's vehicle with "No Kings" printed on them but that he had no direct links to the thousands of nationwide "No Kings" protests on Saturday against President Donald Trump's policies.

The protests were timed to counter Trump's long-sought military parade in Washington. The organizing No Kings Coalition canceled all protests in Minnesota, citing a shelter-in-place order and the suspect's at-large status.

Trump said he was briefed on the "terrible shooting that took place in Minnesota, which appears to be a targeted attack against State Lawmakers."

"Such horrific violence will not be tolerated in the United States of America. God Bless the great people of Minnesota, a truly great place!" Trump said in a statement.

POLICE IMPERSONATOR

Hortman and her husband were shot dead in their home in Brooklyn Park, Walz said. The Minneapolis suburb is in the northern part of Hennepin County, a Democratic stronghold in a state where Republicans have made gains in recent years.

Before Hortman's killing, the Minnesota House of Representatives she served in was evenly split 67-67 between Democrats and Republicans.

The FBI released photos of Boelter wearing a rubber mask in a police-like uniform and offered a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to his arrest and conviction.

Law enforcement officials said the gunman attacked the Hoffmans around 2 a.m. CDT (0700 GMT), then drove about 5 miles (8 km) to the Hortmans' residence.

Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley said a "very intuitive" police sergeant who responded to the Hoffman attack asked colleagues to "proactively" check the Hortmans' home.

The two officers arriving at the Hortmans' residence saw a police-like vehicle with lights on and were immediately fired upon by the suspect. Bruley said they returned fire, but the suspect ran.

POLITICAL VIOLENCE SURGE

The pre-dawn Minnesota killings come amid a surge in U.S. political attacks in recent years, underscoring the dark side of the nation's deepening political divisions.

These include the attempted 2020 kidnapping of Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, and a man who broke into Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s residence in April and set it on fire.

In July last year, then-candidate Trump escaped an assassination attempt by a gunman while speaking at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

Trump has faced criticism from some opponents over his handling of incidents involving political violence.

In one of his first moves in office earlier this year, Trump pardoned nearly everyone criminally charged with participating in the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack.

(Reporting by Tom Polansek and Jonathan Landay; Additional reporting by Jason Lange, Jarrett Renshaw, Sarah N. Lynch and Kanishka Singh; Writing by David Lawder and Jonathan Landay; Editing by Michelle Nichols, Diane Craft and Deepa Babington)

Posted by: AAngeles