Minnesota authorities are searching for Vance Luther Boelter, 57, accused of a politically motivated shooting that killed two lawmakers and injured two others. A former appointee of Governor Tim Walz,

A Springdale pastor is one of a few people claiming they worked with Boelter in Fort Smith around 20 years ago.

Vance Boelter, the subject of a nationwide manhunt, described himself as an experienced security professional who worked in conflict zones. A friend said at least part of that account is "fantasy."

Gov. Mark Dayton, a Democrat, appointed Boelter as a private-sector representative to the nonpartisan Governor’s Workforce Development Council in 2016. Gov. Tim Walz, also a DFLer, reappointed Boelter for another four years in 2019; Boelter lived in Inver Grove Heights at the time. His term expired in 2023.

In what Gov. Tim Walz has characterized as a “politically motivated assassination,” Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband were shot and killed in their home while state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife were also shot and are receiving care—and the alleged suspect, Vance Boelter, remains at large as a manhunt continues for a second day.

Manhunt is underway for Minnesota shooter Vance Luther Boelter of Green Isle, Sibley County. Photo shows him trying to enter a victim's home.

The suspect, Vance Boelter, was appointed more than once to the Workforce Development Board, where he served with State Senator John A. Hoffman, who was shot on Saturday.

An alleged letter from Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to Vance Luther Boelter surfaced online after Boelter was named by journalists and the New York Post as the suspect in Saturday’s shootings of former lawmakers John Hoffman,