The man accused of fatally shooting a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband last weekend had given his wife instructions for a “bailout plan” in the event the family ever needed to flee suddenly, according to an F.B.I. agent.
In an affidavit unsealed on Friday, the agent, Terry Getsch, said that the man charged in the shootings, Vance Boelter, and his wife were “preppers,” a term referring to people who believe a catastrophic event is imminent and go to great lengths to prepare for its arrival.
Hours after the attacks early Saturday morning — which killed the state representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and wounded the state senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette — Mr. Boelter sent a text message to his wife and children, according to the court document.
“The text stated something to the effect of they should prepare for war, they needed to get out of the house and people with guns may be showing up to the house,” Mr. Getsch wrote.
The Hortman killings were part of what authorities said was Mr. Boelter’s broader plot to assassinate politicians. And at some point before the shootings, the agent said, Mr. Boelter had given his wife a plan to follow in the event of “exigent circumstances.” Part of that plan entailed traveling to his mother-in-law’s residence in Spring Brook, Wis., roughly 75 miles from Minneapolis.
Mr. Boelter’s wife, Jenny, has not been charged with any crime, and the new court filing does not suggest that she and their children knew about a plot to kill politicians.
Mr. Boelter has not entered a plea. Katherian Roe, a federal public defender who is representing Mr. Boelter, did not respond to an email on Friday seeking comment.
After the shootings on Saturday, law enforcement officials saw the text message and pulled over Ms. Boelter’s vehicle during a manhunt for the suspect. The court document said she consented to a search of her car. Investigators found roughly $10,000 in cash, passports and two weapons: a revolver in a glove box and a semiautomatic pistol inside a cooler. A search warrant filed in Hennepin County indicated that Ms. Boelter told the authorities that her husband had recently purchased a silicone mask from Amazon.
Mr. Getsch wrote that at about 9 a.m. on Saturday, Mr. Boelter emptied his bank account, withdrawing $2,200. An individual whose name is redacted in the court filing then drove Mr. Boelter from the bank, the agent added.
As of Friday afternoon, law enforcement officials said they had found no sign that Mr. Boelter had accomplices.
“The evidence we have at the moment indicates Boelter acted alone,” Inspector Matt Rabe of the Brooklyn Park, Minn., police department said in an email. “We are continuing to investigate if he received help after the attacks.”
Both lawmakers in the attack were Democrats. The authorities have said the gunman had a list of additional targets that included dozens of elected officials and some abortion providers.
The new details about the investigation emerged a day after Mr. and Ms. Hoffman provided a statement with the first primary account of the shootings.
Hours before the attack, the Hoffmans wrote that they had attended the Humphrey-Mondale Dinner in Minneapolis, an event organized by the state Democratic Party, which featured Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois as the special guest.
After returning home, at approximately 2 a.m., they were “awakened by the sounds of pounding on the front door,” where a man who claimed to be a police officer asked to be allowed in. When they let the man inside, the Hoffmans and their daughter, Hope, stood in the entryway.
The Hoffmans apparently soon realized that the man — who according to court documents wore a silicone mask that night — was not a police officer.
“John initially lunged at the gunman as the weapon was pointed directly at him, getting struck nine times,” the couple said in the statement. As he fell to the ground, Yvette Hoffman “reached to push the man and shut the door.”
In doing so, Ms. Hoffman was shot eight times. “Hope then rushed to shut the door and secured the lock,” the couple wrote. The daughter soon called 911.
“Her brave actions and quick thinking triggered the notice to public safety officials that a politically motivated act was potentially underway,” the Hoffmans wrote.
Mr. Boelter has a hearing in federal court next Friday, where he may enter a plea.
On Friday night, residents of the region gathered in a local high school, where law enforcement officers answered questions from the public and Minnesota leaders, including Gov. Tim Walz, reflected on the attacks. Mr. Walz appeared emotional at times as he described how he was feeling, and how the community is feeling.
“It’s pretty hard, I think, for all of us,” he said, “when we’re running into people, and they’re asking how we’re doing. And my answer now is kind of day by day. This was a grievous wound that Minnesota experienced.”
Seamus Hughes, Jeff Ernst and Pooja Salhotra contributed reporting.
Ernesto Londoño is a Times reporter based in Minnesota, covering news in the Midwest and drug use and counternarcotics policy.
www.startribune.com
