Minnesota state lawmakers shot, one killed, search underway for suspect, state governor says
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A Democratic state lawmaker and her husband were killed early Saturday in what appeared to be a “politically motivated assassination,” while a second lawmaker and his spouse were wounded in a separate attack, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said.
“An unspeakable tragedy has unfolded in Minnesota – my good friend and colleague, Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, were shot and killed early this morning in what appears to be a politically motivated assassination,” he told reporters.
“Our state lost a great leader,” he said.
Walz said that in a second attack, Senator John Hoffman and his wife, of Champlin, were shot multiple times, underwent surgery and that he was “cautiously optimistic” that they would survive “this assassination attempt.”
“This was an act of targeted political violence,” he said. “Peaceful discourse is the foundation of our democracy. We don’t settle our differences with violence or at gunpoint.”
Law enforcement authorities said the gunman was impersonating a police officer and escaped after exchanging fire with police who responded to the attacks.
A large-scale search for the suspect was underway, they said.
(Reporting by Jonathan Landay, editing by Michelle Nichols and Diane Craft)
