Vance Luther Boelter, the suspect in the weekend shooting of Democratic Minnesota lawmakers, is a former pastor and an appointee to the Governor’s Workforce Development Board. He was named to the board by both current Gov. Tim Walz and former Gov. Mark Dayton.
The 57-year-old is accused of fatally shooting state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, at their home in a Minneapolis suburb on Saturday. He is also suspected of shooting state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, at their residence farther north.
His ministry background includes international missionary work, particularly in Africa, where he preached at LaBorne Matadi, a church in the Congo, according to The Wall Street Journal.
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An archived site for Revoformation Ministries states that Boelter preached in the Congo and once sought out “militant Islamists” to share the Gospel. In a sermon posted online, he said, “I met Jesus when I was 17 years old, and I gave my life to him.”
LaBorne Matadi has posted photos of his sermons on Facebook. He and his wife, Jenny, have five children and once operated a dog breeding business called Praetorian Shilohs, which specialized in Shiloh shepherds.
A longtime roommate, David Carlson, told WSJ that Boelter was deeply religious, opposed abortion and voted for President Donald Trump. However, Carlson was quoted as saying he saw no warning signs that he might commit violence.
Carlson said he last saw Boelter Friday evening when he returned to their shared rental home in Minneapolis and said he was tired. On Saturday morning, Carlson received a text message from Boelter that read he would be “gone for a while” and “may be dead shortly,” prompting him to alert the police.
“I thought he was going to do self-harm,” Carlson told the Journal. “I didn’t think he was going to do anything like this.”
Carlson said Boelter never expressed any specific grievances toward Hortman or Hoffman and claimed not to even know who they were.
A CNN profile described Carlson as an Evangelical who, at least on one occasion, questioned American values around sexual orientation. Carlson said Boelter’s views didn’t seem extreme to him, calling them within “the mainstream.”
Carlson told CNN that Boelter never mentioned anger with the lawmakers who were shot.
“It wasn’t the thing that defined him,” Carlson said of Boelter’s religious and political beliefs.
In addition to his role on the Workforce Development Board, Boelter allegedly held a master’s degree in management and had studied at a Bible college in Dallas. His ministry website and LinkedIn profile claimed he had experience in “security situations” across Eastern Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the U.S.
Police have not yet determined whether Boelter knew the victims personally. Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans said at a news conference on Saturday there was “some overlap with public meetings” between Boelter and Hoffman, who also serves on the same state workforce board, but added, “We don’t know the nature of the relationship or if they actually knew each other,” according to the Journal.
A flyer reading “No Kings” was found inside Boelter’s vehicle, leading police to believe he may have planned an attack on the protests in Minnesota. Those demonstrations were later canceled at the recommendation of Gov. Tim Walz.
The Minnesota State Patrol asked residents to avoid protests planned across the state under the same slogan, citing public safety concerns.
Boelter allegedly impersonated a police officer to gain entry into Hortman’s suburban Minneapolis home, where he fatally shot the 55-year-old Democratic lawmaker and her husband, Mark.
He is believed to have then targeted Hoffman, 60, and his wife, Yvette, at their home in another Twin Cities suburb. Both were wounded but survived.
The suspect reportedly left behind a vehicle containing a list of possible targets, including dozens of public officials and abortion-rights advocates.
Law enforcement sources told CNN that Boelter exchanged gunfire with officers outside Hoffman’s home before fleeing the scene.
Gov. Walz, speaking at a press conference later that day, described the shootings as “a politically motivated assassination” and called Hortman “irreplaceable.”
“Speaker Hortman was someone who served the people of Minnesota with grace, compassion, humor and a sense of service,” Walz said.
Boelter previously served on the GWDB, appointed first by former Gov. Dayton in 2016 and then by Walz in 2019.
His official profile on the board listed “no party preference.”
