Details Emerge In Capture Of MN Shooting Suspect

NBC News reports:

The suspect wanted in the slaying of a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband, as well as in the shooting of a state senator and his wife, was found Sunday night armed and crawling in a field in a sparsely populated stretch of Minnesota, authorities said.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced Vance Boelter’s capture at a news conference after saying Saturday that the suspect’s alleged crimes included a “politically motivated assassination.” Despite being armed, authorities said, Boelter was taken into custody without incident and no injuries were reported.

Boelter is in custody and has been charged in connection with the murders and the attempted murders, Drew Evans, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said at the news conference.

The Associated Press reports:

Authorities on Sunday located a vehicle Boelter was using abandoned in rural Sibley County, where he lived, and a police officer reported that he believed he saw Boelter running into the woods, Bruley said. Police set up a large perimeter and called in 20 different tactical teams, divvying up the area and searching for him.

During the search, police said they received information confirming someone was in the woods and searched for hours, using a helicopter and officers on foot, until they found Boelter. He surrendered to police, crawling out to officers in the woods before he was handcuffed and taken into custody in a field, authorities said.

Jail records show Boelter was booked into the Hennepin County Jail at 1:02 a.m. Central Time Monday and include two mug shots, one from the front and one from the side, of Boelter wearing an orange prison shirt.

ABC News reports:

After encountering and exchanging gunfire with alleged killer Vance Boelter early Saturday, police in Brooklyn Park searched his abandoned vehicle and found a chilling trove of weaponry and a list containing dozens of names that suggest the carnage could have been much worse.

Police searched a Ford Explorer equipped to resemble a police vehicle, an SUV registered to Vance Boelter, that was left behind. Inside, officers located at least three AK-47 assault rifles and a 9mm handgun, along with a list with dozens of names and addresses of other public officials.

CNN reports:

The Minnesota lawmaker shootings suspect is in custody, after a roughly 43-hour manhunt involving hundreds of detectives, more than 20 SWAT teams, drones, helicopters and infrared technology ended with 57-year-old Vance Boelter’s surrender in the woods of Sibley County.

The suspect is awaiting a court appearance Monday afternoon in Hennepin County jail, where he was booked on state murder charges, according to a criminal complaint obtained by CNN. Authorities are also considering federal charges, one law enforcement source told CNN, citing a potential hit list recovered by investigators that includes the names of federal lawmakers.

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