Rep. Melissa Hortman was gunned down in her own home.
The 55-year-old Democratic official from Minnesota died of her injuries, along with her husband, Mark, who was also shot in the attack. Fellow state-level lawmaker Sen. John A. Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were also shot the same day in what police say was a related incident.
Authorities are now ramping up the search for the suspect, 57-year-old Vance Luther Boelter – especially as he left behind what appears to be a hit list with dozens of names on it in his car, many of them fellow Democratic leaders and pro-abortion activists. He gained entry to the Hortman and Hoffman households by pretending to be a police officer himself, those familiar with the investigation say.
As the investigation continues, the politicians’ colleagues are speaking out, especially in memory of Hortman. Gov. Tim Walz ordered flags to be flown at half-mast in her honor, saying in a public statement that she was “a great leader” and “a formidable public servant.”
He added: “Melissa Hortman woke up every day determined to make our state a better place. She served the people of Minnesota with grace, compassion, and tirelessness.”
Her assassination is a tragedy – especially because it appears she is the first woman politician to be killed during their candidacy for or tenure in office. Indeed, while 61 U.S. elected officials have been murdered in all, most of them via gunfire, Hortman is the sole woman on the list.
Of course, attempts on the lives of women leaders have been made in the past, perhaps most notably against former Arizona Rep. Gabby Giffords, who survived a gunshot wound to the head during a 2011 attack against her at a Tuscon supermarket.
Giffords commented on Hortman’s murder to a local Fox news affiliate, noting to them that she was “horrified and heartbroken” by the attack. Giffords added: “My family and I know the horror of a targeted shooting all too well. An attack against lawmakers is an attack on American democracy itself. Leaders must speak out and condemn the fomenting violent extremism that threatens everything this country stands for.”
With her time in office, Hortman championed numerous progressive measures, including ones designed to offer environmental protections, safe abortion rights and public transportation access to constituents.
And, she worked hard to curb gun violence. Following the passage of bills that enshrined universal background checks, red-flag measures and straw firearm purchase bans into law, Hortman said of the collective effort: “We clearly have a gun violence problem in this country, and there are things we can do about it – and we did them.”
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