(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The case of the Minnesota assassin who shot two state lawmakers and their spouses keeps getting stranger.
According to a new article in the Minnesota Star Tribune, local cops encountered the alleged assassin, Vance Boetler, before he fled into one of the lawmaker’s houses—but then they waited an entire hour before pursuing him. By then, he was long gone, and wouldn’t be captured for another two days.
Prosecutors say Boelter, 57, who has lived in rural Sibley County south of Minneapolis, was disguised as a police officer, driving a fake squad car, wearing a realistic rubber mask and wearing tactical gear around 2 a.m. on June 14 when he went to the home of Sen. John Hoffman, a Democrat, and his wife, Yvette, in the Minneapolis suburb of Champlin. He allegedly shot the senator nine times, and Yvette Hoffman eight times, but they survived. He also allegedly tried to kill their adult daughter, Hope, but they pushed her out of the way and she was not hit.
Hope then called 911. That’s when things got weird.
This is far more inexplicable imo. Apparently this was reported a month ago, but this is just the first I'm reading about it.
A local cop reportedly "self-dispatched" at 2:36 a.m. to a state senator's home, where he encountered the assassin sitting in his SUV in that dumbass mask… https://t.co/xfTokSsrm8 pic.twitter.com/tXeuipaTsK— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) July 27, 2025
According to the Minnesota Star Tribune, Boetler travelled to the home of his next target, state senator Ann Rest. At the same time, police dispatched an officer to Rest’s home at 2:36 a.m. after hearing about the Hoffman shooting. A New Hope police officer reportedly “self-dispatched” to Rest’s home, where he encountered Boelter sitting in his makeshift police vehicle.
“The officer believed Boelter was a police officer who was checking on Rest and asked Boelter to roll down his window. He was a ‘bald, white male, staring straight ahead,’ according to court records. Boelter didn’t respond to the New Hope officer, who left to check on Rest,” the Star Tribune reported Saturday.
“When the officer returned, Boelter was gone. Several sources with knowledge of the investigation said the officer’s interaction with Boelter was not reported to other law enforcement agencies in real time. Whether that’s because the officer didn’t report it or because police radio traffic was so heavy that the transmission didn’t go through is currently unknown,” the newspaper added.
“It also isn’t clear what the New Hope officer knew at that time and why she was on her way to Rest’s home.”
The 2:36 a.m. encounter wouldn’t be the last major blunder that allowed Boetler to remain on the lam. Around 3:30 a.m., officers saw him again at the home of Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark. Officers opened fire, and he fled into the Hortman home—killing the Hortmans.
“Additional muzzle flashes from Boelter inside the home lit up the entryway,” the Star Tribune reported.
Instead of pursuing him immediately, the cops waited an entire hour before entering the home. By then, Boelter was already long gone, having fled immediately out the back door. He was on the lam for another 43 hours before he was captured.
“Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley has said his officers believed they shot Boelter and he was ‘holed up’ in the basement,” the Star Tribune reported.
Yes, most cops are cowards. Not exactly the most shocking news https://t.co/WzfAUoTXwV pic.twitter.com/zWfaVHnggT
— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) July 27, 2025
Boelter faces murder, stalking and firearms charges. The murder counts in the deaths of former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, could carry the federal death penalty. The indictment also charged Boelter with shooting and wounding a state senator and his wife, and attempting to shoot their adult daughter.
Boelter has said in a letter to the FBI that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz had approached him about killing the state’s two U.S. senators, fellow Democrats Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith.
Boelter does have a loose link to Walz, who ran for Vice President last year on Kamala Harris’s ticket. Boelter was appointed to the workforce development board by then-Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton in 2016 and then reappointed in 2019 by Walz to a four-year term that expired in 2023.
However, U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson suggested Tuesday that Boelter’s accusation against Walz is a figment of the alleged assassin’s imagination.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
