The suspected killer of a Minnesota representative sent a cryptic text to his family about going “to war” hours after he went on a shooting spree targeting multiple Democratic lawmakers.
According to a federal criminal complaint, Vance Luther Boelter, 57, texted his wife Jenny and other family members in a group chat after he fatally shot Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman, 55, and her husband, Mark, 58, at their Brooklyn Park home on Saturday morning.
“Dad went to war last night... I don’t wanna say more because I don’t wanna implicate anybody,” Boelter texted at 6:18 a.m. Law enforcement uncovered the text after searching Jenny’s phone.
Boelter later added: “Words are not gonna explain how sorry I am for this situation... There’s gonna be some people coming to the house armed and trigger-happy and I don’t want you guys around.”
Boelter was arrested Sunday night after a two-day-long manhunt that involved 20 SWAT teams. The Department of Justice said he was charged with stalking and murdering the Hortmans, as well as stalking and shooting the Hoffmans.
The texts Boelter allegedly sent to his family were similar in tone to messages he sent his best friend and roommate, David Carlson.
Carlson earlier told NBC affiliate KARE 11 that he received a text from Boelter around the same time as his family.
“I just want to let you know that I love you guys both,” the text to Carlson read. “I don’t want to say anything more and implicate you in any way, because you, you guys don’t know anything about this. But I love you guys, and I’m sorry for all the trouble this has caused.”
Carlson said Boelter voted for Donald Trump in 2024 and strongly supported the president. Public records show that Boelter was registered as a Republican when he lived in Oklahoma in 2004. Minnesota, however, does not require voters to declare their political affiliation when registering.
The suspect also shot and injured Minnesota State Sen. John Hoffman, 60, and his wife, Yvette, at their Champlin residence. Governor Tim Walz said the couple was in recovery after Hoffman underwent surgery on Sunday.
U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson also revealed on Monday that Boelter went to the homes of two other state lawmakers in between the Hortman and Hoffman shootings.
Neither Thompson nor the criminal complaint identified the two other targets. Thompson said one is a state representative in Maple Grove, while the other is a state senator in New Hope.
Although Boelter’s motives remain unclear to authorities, all the officials on Boelter’s hit list were Democrats, according to Thompson.
“I have not seen anything involving some sort of screed or political manifesto that would clearly identify what motivated him,” Thompson said in a press conference. “Obviously, his primary motive was to go out and murder people.”
