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A man who allegedly killed a top Democratic politician and her husband while posing as a police officer has been arrested.
A huge manhunt was launched for Vance Boelter after Minnesota state representative Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark were shot dead in their home on Saturday.
State senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette were also targeted in a separate attack, but are expected to survive after surgery.
Governor Tim Walz described the shooting as a ‘politically motivated assassination’ and said the killer’s ‘unthinkable crimes have altered the state of Minnesota’.
He added: ‘A moment in this country where we watch violence erupt, this cannot be the norm.
‘It cannot be the way that we deal with our political differences. Now is the time for us to recommit to the core values of this country, and each and every one of us can do it.’
Images released by the FBI show a suspect wearing a latex mask and a police uniform as he approached the door of one of the victims.
Boelter, 57, was charged with two counts of murder and two of attempted murder following his apprehension late on Sunday night, Walz said.
A Hennepin County criminal complaint unsealed yesterday accused him of also driving a Ford SUV with police-style lights.
Upon searching the vehicle, officers found three AK-47 assault rifles, a 9mm handgun, and a list of other prominent public officials alongside their addresses, according to the complaint.
Lieutenant Colonel Jeremy Geiger of the Minnesota State Patrol told a press briefing: ‘The suspect was taken into custody without any use of force.’
US Senator Amy Klobuchar, a close friend of Melissa Hortman, shared a statement from Yvette Hoffman on her senator husband’s health.
It said: ‘John is enduring many surgeries right now and is closer every hour to being our of the woods. He took 9 bullet hits. I took 8 and we are both incredibly lucky to be alive.
‘We are gutted and devastated by the loss of Melissa and Mark. We have no words.’
She ended the statement: ‘Minnesotans are at our very best when we stand together.’
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