Minneapolis (AP) – The man accused of having killed a minnesota legislator and having injured another in what the prosecutors described as a meticulously planned attack, had dozens of apparent targets, including officials in at least three other states.
Vance Boelter would have arrived at the home of two other legislators on the night of the attacks, but one was on vacation and the suspect left the other house after the arrival of the police, American lawyer Joseph Thompson said on Monday.
All the politicians appointed in his writings were Democrats, including more than 45 state and federal officials of Minnesota, said Thompson. Elected leaders of Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin said they were also mentioned in his writings.
WATCH: The Republican colleague remembers that the Minnesota legislator was killed in a shooting
Investigators say Boelter seemed to spend months preparing for shooting – the last of a series of political attacks across the United States
In Minnesota, Boelter carried out surveillance missions, taken notes on the houses and the people he targeted and disguised as a policeman just before the shots, said Thompson.
“It is not an exaggeration to say that his crimes are nightmares,” he said.
Boelter went to the police on Sunday evening after finding him in the woods near his home after a massive two -day search. He is accused of shooting the former president of the Democrat Chamber, Melissa Hortman, and her husband, Mark, in their house early Saturday in the northern suburbs of Minneapolis.
The authorities say that he also pulled and injured Senator John Hoffman, a Democrat, and his wife, Yvette, who lived a few kilometers away.
Federal prosecutors accused Boelter, 57, of murder and harassment, which could lead to a death sentence if it was found guilty. He is already faced with state accusations, including murder and attempted murder. During a hearing of the Federal Court on Monday in St. Paul, Boelter said that he could not afford a lawyer. A federal public defender was appointed to represent him, and he was detained without surety pending appearance in court next week.
Manny Atwal, his main lawyer, refused to comment, saying that the office has just received the case.
Notebooks show meticulous planning
Boelter had many notebooks, said Thompson. According to the attacks on attacks, law enforcement officials highlighted the premeditated nature, a notebook contained a list of search engines on the Internet, according to the judicial archives.
But the authorities found no writing that “would clearly identify what motivated him,” said Thompson. He said he was also too early to speculate on all kinds of political ideology.
Democratic representative Esther Agbaje, whose district includes minneapolis parties, said she stayed with friends and family during the weekend after learning that her name appeared on the list of targets.
In the texts, the suspect said that he had gone to war ”
The authorities refused to reveal the names of the two other legislators whose houses were targeted but escaped the damage. Democratic Senator Ann Rest told him that the suspect was parked near her home on Saturday early on Saturday. She said in a statement that the “rapid action” of law enforcement agents had saved her life.
Boelter sent an SMS to a family group cat after the shots saying: “Dad went to war last night … I don’t want to say more because I don’t want to imply anyone,” according to a FBI affidavit.
His wife received another text that said: “The words will not explain how sorry I am for this situation … There will be people who will come to the house armed and to trigger and I don’t want you guys,” said the Affidavit.
The police later found his wife in a car with her children. The agents found two handguns, or about $ 10,000 in cash and passports for women and their children, according to the affidavit.
Only a few hours after the shots, Boelter bought an electric bike and a Buick sedan from someone he met during a bus stop in Minneapolis, said the federal affidavit. Police found the sedan abandoned on a motorway on Sunday morning.
In the car, the police found a Cowboy Boelter hat with surveillance images and a letter written to the FBI, the authorities said. The letter indicated that it had been written by “Dr. Vance Luther Boulter” and he was “the shooter in general”.
The car was found in the rural county of Sibley, where Boelter had a house.
Coordinated attacks against legislators
The Hoffmans were first attacked at their home in Champlin. Their adult daughter called 911 to say that a masked person had come to the door and shot his parents.
Boelter had shown himself carrying a pocket lamp and a 9 mm handgun and wearing a black tactical vest and a “hyper-realistic” silicone mask, said Thompson.
He first struck and shouted: “It’s the police.” At one point, the Hoffmans realized that he was wearing a mask and Boelter said to them: “It’s a flight”. After Senator Hoffman tried to push Boelter by the door, Boelter fired him several times, then shot his wife, said the prosecutor.
A statement published on Sunday by Yvette Hoffman said that her husband had undergone several surgeries after being hit by nine bullets.
After hearing about a slaughtered legislator, the police arrived just in time to see Boelter shoot Mark Hortman through the house door of the house, according to the complaint. They exchanged gunshots with Boelter, who fled into the house before escaping, said the complaint. Melissa Hortman was found dead inside, according to the document. Their dog was also shot and had to be euthanized.
The search for continuous patterns
The writings given to the false police vehicle included the names of the legislators and community managers, as well as defenders of abortion and information on health care establishments, said two laws who have spoken to the Associated Press subject to anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the details of the investigation in progress.
Friends and former colleagues interviewed by the AP describe Boelter as a devout Christian who attended an evangelical church and went to campaign rallies for President Donald Trump.
Boelter is also a former policy named politician who has sat on the same board of directors of the state labor as Hoffman, according to the files, although he was not clear if they knew each other.
Durkin Richer reported Washington and Seewer reported to Toledo, Ohio. The writers of the Associated Press Michael Biesecker and Eric Tucker in Washington, John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, Rio Yamat in Las Vegas and Margery Beck in Omaha, Nebraska, contributed to this report.