Minnesota state representative Melissa Hortman and her husband were shot dead on Saturday morning in what state governor Tim Walz described as a “politically motivated assassination”.
Hortman, a Democrat, and her husband were shot at their home in Brooklyn Park, a city north of Minneapolis, by a man dressed as a police officer, authorities said. Police are still searching for the suspect, named by the FBI as 57-year-old Vance Boelter, who escaped following a shootout with officers.
“My good friend and colleague Melissa and her husband Mark were shot and killed this morning in what appears to be a politically motivated assassination,” said Tim Walz, the state’s governor. He described Hortman as “a formidable public servant, a fixture and a giant in Minnesota”.