A manhunt that lasted two days concluded Sunday night when police apprehended the suspect, Vance Boelter, in a field. No force was necessary during the arrest.
Over 100 law enforcement officers scoured the area for two days looking for the individual involved in the shootings of two Minnesota state lawmakers and their spouses. The search came to an end late Sunday when Boelter crawled toward the officers who had tracked him to a field outside Minneapolis.
The 57-year-old suspect, Vance Boelter, was evading capture for a day and a half when investigators discovered his vehicle and hat on Sunday afternoon along a remote road in Sibley County, a primarily rural region southwest of Minneapolis, approximately an hour’s drive from the locations of the attacks that occurred early Saturday morning.
Numerous police officers and around 20 SWAT teams were deployed throughout the county over the weekend, which officials described as the largest manhunt in the history of the state.
The search area became more focused when an officer reported seeing an individual, believed to be the suspect, running into nearby woods, said Elliot Faust, deputy police chief in Brooklyn Park, Minn., during a news conference on Sunday night. A local resident also reported capturing an image of Mr. Boelter on a trail camera, according to Chief Faust.
SWAT team members confirmed that a photo from the trail camera depicted the suspect. They established a perimeter covering one square mile in the area, utilizing drones and police dogs, Chief Faust indicated.
Officers spotted Mr. Boelter and monitored his movements with a drone from above as he crawled through dense brush, Chief Faust stated. They closed in on him, and despite his being armed, officials reported that no force was used during his arrest. He was captured close to the residence outside Green Isle, Minn., where he lived with his wife and children.
At a temporary command center set up in a nearby parking lot, officers congratulated one another following the conclusion of the manhunt.
Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher shared a photo on Facebook showing Mr. Boelter situated in a field as he was taken into custody. The image appeared to have been altered, with officers' faces obscured.
Although the manhunt stretched nearly two days and created tension across the state, Drew Evans, the superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, remarked that it could have extended even further if not for the prompt actions of Brooklyn Park police officers who responded early Saturday to a report of a shooting at State Senator John A. Hoffman’s home. Officers also took the initiative to check on Representative Melissa Hortman’s residence and found Mr. Boelter there.
“If that had not occurred,” Superintendent Evans noted on Sunday, “I am confident that this would have persisted throughout the day.”
When police arrived at Ms. Hortman’s house, the suspect immediately opened fire on the responding officers, he explained. The officers returned fire, and the man fled through the back door of the residence onto a golf course, triggering the manhunt.
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