US Lawmaker Killed in Targeted Political Attack, Search Ongoing for Gunman

A senior Democratic lawmaker in Minnesota, State Assemblywoman Melissa Hortman, and her husband Mark Hortman were killed Saturday in what authorities described as a politically motivated assassination. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz confirmed the deaths and said the suspect, posing as a police officer, is still at large following a shootout with law enforcement.

A major search is underway for the suspect, who fled on foot after firing at police, abandoning a vehicle in which officers found a “manifesto” listing other legislators and officials, law enforcement officials told a news conference, says Reuters.

Portrait of Melissa Hortman in this undated handout photo. Minnesota House of Representatives/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. MANDATORY CREDIT

The assailant is also believed to have shot and wounded State Senator John Hoffman and his wife at their Champlin home prior to attacking the Hortmans. Both victims underwent surgery, and Walz expressed “cautious optimism” about their recovery. Law enforcement discovered a manifesto in the suspect’s abandoned vehicle listing other elected officials as potential targets.

“This was an act of targeted political violence,” said Walz, condemning the attack as an assault on democratic values. “We don’t settle our differences with violence or at gunpoint.”

Portrait of John Hoffman in this undated handout photo. Minnesota Senate/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. MANDATORY CREDIT

The shootings occurred in Brooklyn Park, a suburb of Minneapolis. Authorities launched a large-scale manhunt, warning that the suspect remains armed and dangerous. President Donald Trump issued a statement condemning the violence, calling it a “targeted attack” and asserting that such acts “will not be tolerated in the United States of America.”

Officers canvas the neighborhood after what police said was a targeted shooting in the area around Edinburgh Golf Course in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, U.S. June 14, 2025. REUTERS/Ellen Schmidt

The FBI and state officials are assisting in the investigation, which has shocked Minnesota’s political community and raised concerns about threats to public officials amid rising political tensions nationwide.