The roommate of the man suspected of killing a Minnesota politician has revealed a haunting final message the alleged killer sent.
Vance Boelter is accused of posing as a police officer and shooting Melissa Hortman, former Speaker of the Minnesota House, and her husband Mark in what Governor Tim Walz has labeled a “politically motivated assassination".
Hortman was declared dead at her Brooklyn Park home, while her husband later died despite emergency efforts.
Less than 10 kilometers away, Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette were also shot but survived surgery.
According to a relative, a bullet “very nearly missed Senator Hoffman’s heart,” and Yvette heroically shielded their daughter Hope during the attack. “Hope was not hit,” the family confirmed, per News.com.au.
Authorities have revealed that the suspected shooter impersonated a cop, wearing a vest, badge, and Taser while driving an SUV rigged with flashing police lights.
“It was not a real police officer. This is someone that clearly had been impersonating a police officer who uses the trust of this badge and this uniform to manipulate their way into the home,” said Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley.
When officers encountered the suspect at the Hortman residence around 3:35AM, he opened fire and then escaped on foot.
Inside his abandoned vehicle, investigators found a manifesto, “No Kings” flyers, and a hit list of nearly 70 names, including lawmakers, doctors, and community leaders.
Boelter's longtime roommate and childhood friend, David Carlson, said the alleged gunman texted him and another friend around 6AM on Saturday, just after Hortman and Mark were fatally shot in their home, and Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette were shot in theirs.
“David and Ron, I love you guys. I made some choices, and you guys don’t know anything about this, but I’m going to be gone for a while," Carlson read from his phone while sitting on the front stoop.
"May be dead shortly, so I just want to let you know I love you guys both and I wish it hadn’t gone this way,” the man, who was visibly shaken, continued.
“I don’t want to say anything more and implicate you in any way because you guys don’t know anything about this. But I love you guys and I’m sorry for all the trouble this has caused," he added.
Carlson immediately contacted authorities out of fear that Boelter might harm himself.
Carlson struggled to reconcile the horrific violence with the friend he thought he knew. “He wasn’t a hateful person,” he said. “But he needed help," per The New York Post.
Boelter, he explained, was facing financial trouble and career instability. “He was looking around, but maybe things didn’t work out, and he just gave up and decided to go out in a blaze of glory. I have no idea what he was thinking.”
Despite once being appointed to the Governor’s Workforce Development Board by Democrat Tim Walz, Carlson said Boelter had voted for Donald Trump and was anti-abortion, but added those views weren’t defining traits.
“It wasn’t the thing that defined him. I mean, it wasn’t his total existence. He would talk about other things," he shared.
Boelter only stayed at the North Minneapolis home a few days a week and wasn’t there when police searched the property with a warrant on Saturday.
Boelter is now the subject of a national manhunt, with the FBI offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.
Hundreds of agents, including SWAT and federal teams, are involved. Police have warned Minnesotans not to open the door to any uniformed officer acting alone unless verified.
Governor Walz condemned the killings, calling it “an unspeakable tragedy” and warning that “the democracy and the debates in the halls of Congress, in state houses, in school boards, is a way to settle our differences peacefully".
President Donald Trump also reacted to the shootings, stating: “Such horrific violence will not be tolerated in the United States of America. God Bless the great people of Minnesota, a truly great place!”