Live updates: Minnesota suspect Vance Boelter captured after manhunt in Melissa Hortman killing

The suspect in the killing of a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband in addition to the shooting of another lawmaker and his wife also visited two more politicians’ homes, according to authorities.

“In the early-morning hours of June 14, (Vance) Boelter went to the homes of four Minnesota state politicians with the intent to kill them,” Joseph H. Thompson, the acting US attorney for the District of Minnesota, said at a news conference Monday.

Boelter first went to the home of state Sen. John Hoffman in Champlin disguised as a police officer, wearing body armor and a hyper-realistic silicone mask. He knocked on the senator’s door, shouting, “This is the police,” according to Thompson. When Hoffman opened the door, Boelter shined a flashlight in his face and said there’d been a shooting reported in the house; when Boelter lowered his flashlight, Hoffman realized he was not law enforcement.

In the ensuing struggle, Boelter shot Hoffman and his wife repeatedly, Thompson said.

Next, according to Thompson, Boelter traveled to the home of a state representative in Maple Grove, where video surveillance showed he rang the doorbell just before 2:30 a.m., still dressed as a police officer. The politician and her family were gone on vacation, so he left.

Boelter traveled to the home of another state senator, in New Hope. He was sitting in his black SUV with police-style lights on down the street just after 2:30 a.m. when a New Hope police officer pulled up beside him, thinking he was a fellow officer. After learning of the shooting of Hoffman, New Hope Police had dispatched an officer to conduct a wellness check on the senator who lived there, Thompson said.

Boelter did not respond to the officer, so she proceeded to the senator’s house and waited for backup. By the time more police arrived, Boelter had left the area, Thompson said.

It was approximately 3:30 a.m. when Boelter arrived at state Rep. Melissa Hortman’s home in Brooklyn Park, according to Thompson. When Brooklyn Park Police officers dispatched to check on the longtime lawmaker arrived at her house, they saw Boelter standing several feet from the door. He drew his weapon and began firing, Thompson said, before running into the house, still firing.

“He repeatedly fired into the house, and when he entered, he murdered Rep. Hortman and her husband, Mark,” Thompson said.

Brooklyn Park Police officers fired at Boelter as he entered the home, but he escaped through the back, according to the acting US attorney.

“It’s no exaggeration to say this is the stuff of nightmares,” Thompson said.