PinnedUpdated June 27, 2025, 11:10 a.m. ETThe man accused of killing a Minnesota legislator and her husband while disguised as a police officer was scheduled to appear in federal court in St. Paul on Friday, shortly before mourners were expected to gather at the nearby State Capitol to pay their respects to the couple.The man, Vance Boelter, was set to face a judge at 11 a.m. Central time for a preliminary examination and detention hearing. He faces several federal charges, including murder, which could carry the death penalty if he is convicted. No plea is expected on Friday.The suspect was arrested after a two-day manhunt and accused of killing State Representative Melissa Hortman, a Democrat, and her husband, Mark, at their home in suburban Minneapolis on June 14, in what officials have called a political assassination. Mr. Boelter is also accused of attacking another lawmaker and his wife, and had a list of other targets, according to prosecutors.Ms. Hortman had served as speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives and was widely respected by members of both parties. She and her husband were scheduled to lie in state at the Capitol on Friday afternoon alongside their dog, Gilbert, who was also shot in the attack and later died.Here’s what we’re covering:Lying in state: Ms. Hortman will be the first woman to receive the honor in Minnesota, and her husband, who worked for an electrical manufacturing company, will be the first person who was not previously a government official or a veteran.The accused: In addition to the federal case, the suspect also faces murder charges in state court. His wife’s lawyers issued a statement on Thursday, expressing her family’s sympathies for the victims. Read more›The Hortmans: Ms. Hortman developed relationships across party lines during her time in government. Her husband was known for his sense of humor and support of his wife’s political career.The beloved dog: The Hortmans’ dog Gilbert, a golden retriever, flunked out of service dog training but was adored by his family.June 27, 2025, 11:55 a.m. ETOfficials said the man accused of shooting two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses disguised himself as a police officer and drove a black S.U.V. modified to appear like a police vehicle.Credit...Tim Gruber for The New York TimesWhen the gunman in the shootings of two Minnesota lawmakers approached their homes in the early hours of June 14, he was armed with not just a handgun but also a wealth of other gear: a black tactical vest, a badge, a flashlight, a Taser. He arrived in a black S.U.V. with flashing police lights.“No question, if they were in this room, you would assume they were a police officer,” Mark Bruley, the police chief of Brooklyn Park, Minn., said not long after the shootings, as officers searched for a suspect.On June 16, state and federal authorities investigating the case filed murder and other charges against Vance Boelter, a Minnesota resident who was in the process of starting his own private security company.The killings were the latest in a long history of crimes committed by people who won the trust of victims by posing as law enforcement officers. Among the more well-known cases was a prank caller who posed as a police officer to persuade a McDonald’s manager in Kentucky to strip search an employee in 2004, and a man who was convicted of murdering a Long Island man in 2005 after pulling him over on the road with flashing lights on his S.U.V.And this year, amid high-profile immigration raids conducted by federal authorities, several people have been arrested and accused of impersonating Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in order to threaten and intimidate others.In the Minnesota shootings, officials said, the suspect was even able to fool a real officer.Officials said Mr. Boelter had initially presented himself as a police officer when he went to four lawmakers’ homes in the Minneapolis suburbs on June 14, fatally shooting one lawmaker and her husband and wounding another lawmaker and his wife.Mr. Boelter, 57, was spotted in his vehicle near another lawmaker’s home when a police officer who had been assigned to provide extra security at the home pulled alongside him and tried to speak with him. Mr. Boelter did not respond, and the officer, who assumed that Mr. Boelter was also a law enforcement officer, continued on to the lawmaker’s home, prosecutors said. Mr. Boelter did not end up going to the door of that house.But two of the victims were able to see through the disguise, officials said.When the suspect approached the home of State Senator John A. Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, he identified himself as a police officer and shined a light in their faces, prosecutors said. When he lowered the flashlight, the couple saw that he was wearing a mask and realized he was not a police officer.“You’re not a cop,” they said, according to Joseph H. Thompson, the acting U.S. attorney for the District of Minnesota. Mr. Boelter then responded, “This is a robbery,” and began forcing his way in, ultimately shooting Mr. Hoffman and his wife, according to the criminal complaint.Police officials said it was disturbing to see people misrepresenting themselves as police officers in order to carry out crimes.The suspect “exploited the trust our uniforms are meant to represent,” said Bob Jacobson, the commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. “That betrayal was deeply disturbing to those of us who wear the badge with honor and responsibility.”June 27, 2025, 11:47 a.m. ETJournalists are being allowed into the courtroom of Judge Douglas L. Micko in the federal courthouse in St. Paul, Minn., for the detention hearing of the man accused of killing State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband. The hearing is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. local time.June 27, 2025, 11:42 a.m. ETAuthorities said that before arriving to the house of State Representative Melissa Hortman in Brooklyn Park, Minn., the suspect drove to the homes of two other politicians with the intent to kill them.Credit...Tim Gruber for The New York TimesThe man accused of shooting two Democratic lawmakers and their spouses in Minnesota drove to the homes of two additional politicians with the intent to kill them, the authorities said.In both cases, the man was thwarted, officials said earlier this month. One politician was not there. At the home of the other, he encountered a police officer who might have spooked him and caused him to flee.The attacks began around 2 a.m. on June 14, the authorities said, when Vance Boelter, a 57-year-old funeral services employee, disguised himself as a police officer and drove to the home of State Senator John A. Hoffman in Champlin, Minn., a Minneapolis suburb.Wearing a mask, he knocked on Mr. Hoffman’s door, shouting: “This is the police! Open the door!” When Mr. Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, came to the door, Mr. Boelter told them a shooting had been reported in the house, according to a federal criminal complaint.At some point, the couple realized that Mr. Boelter was wearing a mask and was not a real police officer, according to Joseph H. Thompson, the acting U.S. attorney for the District of Minnesota. “You’re not a cop!” the couple shouted, to which Mr. Boelter responded, “This is a robbery,” and began forcing his way into the home, officials said.When Senator Hoffman tried to push Mr. Boelter out of the home, officials said, Mr. Boelter shot the senator and his wife repeatedly. They were hospitalized with injuries but survived the attack.Mr. Boelter then drove to a second state lawmaker’s house, in Maple Grove, a suburb about a 15-minute drive away from the Hoffmans’ home. He rang the doorbell of that home at 2:24 a.m., still disguised as a police officer and saying he had a warrant. But the lawmaker was on vacation with her family, so he left, Mr. Thompson said.State Representative Kristin Bahner, a Democrat, said that it was her home and thanked “divine intervention” for a change in her family’s plans that led them to be out of the house.After leaving her house, Mr. Boelter got back into his car, a black S.U.V. with what looked like police lights and “Police” printed on the license plate, and drove to a third state lawmaker’s home, in New Hope, another nearby suburb. State Senator Ann Rest, a Democrat, said that it was her home.After the shooting of Mr. Hoffman, a police officer was dispatched to Ms. Rest’s house. That officer encountered Mr. Boelter sitting in his S.U.V. down the street from the home at 2:36 a.m. and believed he was a real police officer, according to the criminal complaint.The officer tried to speak with Mr. Boelter but he did not respond to her, so she continued to the state senator’s home and waited there for additional police officers to arrive. When they did, Mr. Boelter was gone, the complaint said.Ms. Rest said in a statement on June 16 that the quick decision by police officers to check on her home had “saved my life.”Not long after leaving Ms. Rest’s street, Mr. Boelter drove to the home of State Representative Melissa Hortman, in Brooklyn Park. Police officers who had been dispatched to check on her arrived around 3:30 a.m. and saw Mr. Boelter standing near the front door of the home, according to the complaint.When Mr. Boelter saw the police arrive, he fired into the house and ran into it, ultimately killing Ms. Hortman and her husband, Mark, federal officials said. (The authorities had previously said he also fired at officers, though they now say it is unclear whether he did or not.)The perpetrator then escaped out of the back of the house, initiating a two-day manhunt that ended on the night of June 15 with Mr. Boelter’s arrest. He faces state and federal charges related to the attacks. Federal officials have charged him with two counts of murder using a firearm, crimes that can bring the death penalty.June 27, 2025, 11:41 a.m. ETThe federal courthouse in St. Paul, where the suspect is set to appear this morning, is just about a mile’s walk from the soaring white dome of the Minnesota State Capitol, where mourners are expected to gather later to pay their respects to State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark.June 27, 2025, 11:21 a.m. ETWe’ve learned more this week about what happened when a police officer came across the suspect at the home of State Representative Melissa Hortman in Brooklyn Park, Minn. State officials said a Brooklyn Park police officer with nine years of experience encountered gunfire at the house and then fired his weapon. The suspect escaped, prompting a two-day manhunt.June 27, 2025, 11:07 a.m. ETA candlelight vigil for Melissa Hortman and her husband outside the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul this month. Credit...Jenn Ackerman for The New York TimesAs investigators have tried to piece together what led to the shootings of two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses early on June 14, new details have emerged about the man accused of attacking them in their homes.The man, Vance Boelter, 57, was taken into custody after a two-day manhunt and charged by both federal and state prosecutors with murder in the killings of State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark. Prosecutors say he also shot State Senator John A. Hoffman and his wife, Yvette. Both Hoffmans survived.Mr. Boelter, a father of five, had worked for decades in the food industry, according to various records. In a video he posted online, he described quitting that industry to work on agricultural projects in central Africa. More recently, colleagues said, he had picked up jobs at funeral service companies.Mr. Boelter and his wife were also doomsday preppers, according to an affidavit in the federal case. Here’s what to know about him.He served on a state board with one of the shooting victims.A former state governor, Mark Dayton, appointed Mr. Boelter to a state economic board in 2016, and Gov. Tim Walz later reappointed him. Mr. Boelter served with Mr. Hoffman, but it is unclear if they actually knew each other.The Minnesota Governor’s Workforce Development Board has 41 appointed members whose mandate is to try to improve business development in the state.Mr. Boelter and Mr. Hoffman attended at least one virtual meeting together in 2022 for a discussion about the job market in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, though officials said they did not know if the two had any kind of relationship.A close friend said he opposed abortion and supported Donald Trump.Minnesota residents do not declare their political affiliation when they register to vote, and a state report connected to the work force board listed Mr. Boelter’s affiliation as “none or other” in 2016. A similar report in 2020 listed “no party preference.”But a roommate and close friend, David Carlson, said Mr. Boelter voted for Donald J. Trump last year and was passionately opposed to abortion.In November 2018, Mr. Boelter urged his connections on LinkedIn to vote in that year’s midterm elections, saying that he had been to countries where people could not elect their leaders and that they were “not places that anyone of us would want to live in.”He was a doomsday prepper, according to investigators.In an affidavit unsealed last week, Special Agent Terry Getsch of the F.B.I. said that Mr. Boelter and his wife, Jenny, were “preppers,” or people who believe a calamity is imminent and prepare for it. Mr. Boelter had left “bailout plan” instructions for his family to go to Wisconsin in the event of “exigent circumstances,” the affidavit said.Mr. Boelter texted his wife and children hours after the attacks stating “something to the effect of they should prepare for war,” Mr. Getsch wrote. His texts also said that the family needed to leave the house and that “people with guns may be showing up.”Police officers stopped Ms. Boelter on the morning of the attacks near a convenience store roughly 70 miles north of where the shootings took place, according to Sheriff Kyle Burton of Mille Lacs County. Ms. Boelter has not been charged with any crimes.Her lawyers released a statement on Thursday saying Ms. Boelter had expressed her family’s sympathies for those targeted in the shootings, and said they had voluntarily gone to the gas station on the morning of the attacks to meet with the authorities. “We thank law enforcement for apprehending Vance and protecting others from further harm,” Ms. Boelter wrote, according to the statement.He worked in the funeral industry and managed gas stations.Mr. Boelter’s professional history is varied. In one video he posted online, Mr. Boelter said he worked six days a week for two funeral service companies in the Minneapolis area. At one of the companies, he said, he sometimes helped remove bodies from crime scenes and would work with police officers and death investigators.State reports and his LinkedIn profile indicate that Mr. Boelter had also been the general manager of a 7-Eleven in Minneapolis and, before that, the manager of a gas station in St. Paul. A report in 2017 listed him as an executive at an energy company.Mr. Boelter and his wife were listed on a website as running a private security company, though it was not clear whether it had any clients. The company, Praetorian Guard Security Services, lists Mr. Boelter as the director of security patrols and his wife as the president. The firm’s website describes using Ford Explorer S.U.V.s, “the same make and model of vehicles that many police departments use.”He spoke against gay and transgender people at a church in Africa.Mr. Boelter has delivered several sermons at a church in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In the sermons, which were posted online, he said he had given his life to Jesus as a teenager and had been blessed with five children.In one sermon, he appeared to condemn gay and transgender people. “There’s people, especially in America, they don’t know what sex they are,” he said. “They don’t know their sexual orientation, they’re confused. The enemy has gotten so far into their mind and their soul.”Mr. Boelter was enrolled at Christ for the Nations Institute in Dallas from 1988 until 1990, when he graduated with a diploma in “practical theology in leadership and pastoral,” according to a statement from the school, which offers programs and certificates for students interested in evangelical ministry and missionary work.The school said it had not had any contact with him since that time.