Minnesota lawmaker Melissa Hortman killed, State Sen. John Hoffman wounded in 'targeted political violence'
abcnews.go.com
A manhunt is underway for the gunman who was impersonating a police officer and had a list of possible targets, officials said.

Two Minnesota state lawmakers were shot in apparent “targeted” incidents on Saturday that left them in grave condition, officials said, and a manhunt is now underway for the gunman.

A source familiar with the matter tells ABC News that the victims are state Sen. John Hoffman and state Rep. Melissa Hortman.

Both were shot at their homes and authorities believe the shooter was impersonating law enforcement, the source said.

  • halcyoncmdr@lemmy.worldEnglish
    83·
    1 day ago

    Both were shot at their homes and authorities believe the shooter was impersonating law enforcement, the source said.

    Impersonating law enforcement, or actual law enforcement? If they don’t have the suspect in custody yet, they have no idea whether they were impersonating law enforcement.

    • chosensilence@pawb.social
      192·
      23 hours ago

      i’d agree but if you read into how they discovered Hortman and her spouse it’s because police were sent to the house of Sen. Hoffman and when they arrived they found him and his wife shot which caused them to proactively check on Sen. Hortman and her husband, but when they arrived they found her and her husband dead. doesn’t make it not a cop but imitating them is far more common and this sounds politically motivated. they also found the suspect’s manifesto with a list of names in his car outside Hortman’s home.

      • Boddhisatva@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        57 minutes ago

        The article has been updated on this matter. They are now reporting that the officers encountered the suspect at Sen. Hortman’s home when they arrived and exchanged gunfire.

        After Hoffman was shot, officers were heading to pro-actively check on Hortman when they encountered the suspect at Hortman’s Brooklyn Park home around 3:35 a.m., Evans said.

        The officers found a person who was dressed as a police officer – wearing a vest and a badge, and with a Taser and other equipment – at the door, coming out of Hortman’s house, police said.

        The suspect fired at the officers; gunfire was exchanged and the suspect was able to escape and flee on foot, authorities said.

        The suspect’s vehicle – which looked like a police vehicle, including police lights – was in Hortman’s driveway, authorities said.

        As for how he got the gear and vehicle, the suspect and his wife run Praetorian Guard Services which advertises itself as a provider of armed security. They have weapons, body armor, tasers, and use Ford Explorer SUVs just like the local police do.

      • neuromorph@lemmy.world
        19·
        23 hours ago

        At this point I wouldn’t trust police reporting on themselves. Impersonated or otherwise.

        If it was an active cop who did thw shooting and the police found evidence of this. Would they claim it was an impersonator or tell us the truth?

    • Cows Look Like Maps@sh.itjust.works
      81·
      22 hours ago

      Law enforcement are the ones breaking the law, being violent, and terrorizing communities right now.

      Regardless of whether this was law enforcement or impersonators, we must start recognizing law enforcement as the state’s apparatuses for violence that it is.

      The problem is not people pretending to be cops, it IS cops. Both historically and today.

    • frezik@midwest.social
      2·
      19 hours ago

      Actual impersonation. From a CNN article:

      Around 3:35 a.m., another call came in when officers were proactively checking on Hortman’s home. When Brooklyn Park police officers arrived they noticed that there was a police vehicle in the driveway with emergency lights on and what appeared to be a police officer at the door, coming out of the house, officials said. That individual immediately fired a weapon at them, Evans said, and exchanged gunfire took place during which the suspect was able to escape.

      https://edition.cnn.com/2025/06/14/us/minneapolis-targeted-shooting

      I don’t think a cop doing this would shoot back at other cops. They’d report back that the perp was long gone and they saw nothing.

      Edit: lol, the guy is a rent-a-cop