Minnesota shooting suspect Vance Boelter texted roommate he ‘may be dead shortly’ after killings: Latest

David Carlson, a longtime friend of Vance Boelter, the suspected gunman, said it was unbelievable that the person he had known for 50 years could have committed such a crime.

“He was just the nicest guy,” Carlson told reporters on Saturday. “I mean, I can’t believe this has all happened.”

Boelter and Carlson have been friends since the fourth grade. Boelter rented a room from Carlson occasionally to be closer to his workplace at a private security company.

“He paid for four months of rent in advance, and said I was his best friend and that he loves me,” Carlson recalled. “I thanked him for that, our friendship, and everything.”

Carlson was visibly emotional while speaking with reporters about the text message he received from his friend after the shootings took place.

The nephew of Minnesota state Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette Hoffman said on Facebook that his aunt threw herself on her daughter to protect her from gunfire.

Mat Ollig said Yvette sustained five gunshot wounds while “using her body as a shield” to save her daughter’s life after a suspect, dressed as a police officer, came to their door and fired shots at them on Saturday.

“These two are the kindest, most giving and caring people I know,” Ollig wrote on Facebook.

Ollig said both John and Yvette were out of surgery and “recovering.”

Vance Boelter, the 57-year-old man suspected of shooting two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses at their homes, allegedly had a hit list of prominent Democratic lawmakers in his SUV, an official told The Independent.

Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar dined with her friend, Minnesota state Representative Melissa Hortman, just hours before she was fatally shot at her home.

Klobuchar told POLITICO that Governor Tim Walz called her around 5 a.m. to deliver the tragic news.

“I wish everyone had known her like we knew her,” Klobuchar told POLITICO. “I was there when she was doorknocking in the beginning. … I was in county office and she was seeking the legislative office.”

Klobuchar has known Hortman for decades. Hortman was elected in 2004 to the Minnesota House of Representatives while Klobuchar was elected Hennepin County attorney in 1998. She recalled to POLITICO how “skilled” a legislator Hortman was – able to balance public service while leading a Girl Scout troop, raising two children, and teaching Sunday school at a local Catholic church.

Vance Boelter texted his roommate, David Carlson, and his friend, Ron Ramsey, that he “may be dead shortly” on Saturday morning, after two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses were shot.

Boelter has been identified as a suspect in connection to the fatal shooting of Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, and the shooting of Minnesota Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette.

Carlson, 59, read the text message that he received at 6:17 a.m. aloud to reporters on Saturday.

“David and Ron, I love you guys. I made some choices, and you guys don’t know anything about this, but I’m going to be gone for a while. May be dead shortly, so I just want to let you know I love you guys both and I wish it hadn’t gone this way. I don’t want to say anything more and implicate you in any way because you guys don’t know anything about this. But I love you guys and I’m sorry for all the trouble this has caused.”

The entire Minnesota congressional delegation released a joint statement mourning the loss of state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark as well as condemning the political violence that likely motivated the attack.

“Today we speak with one voice to express our outrage, grief, and condemnation of this horrible attack on public servants,” the statement read.

“There is no place in our democracy for politically-motivated violence. We are praying for JOhn and Yvette’s recovery and we grieve the loss of Melissa and Mark with their family, colleagesues, and Minnesotans across the state.”

“We are grateful for law enforcement’s swift response to the situation and continued efforts.”

The statement was signed by Democratic Senators Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar, Democratic Representatives Angie Craig, Kelly Morrison, Betty McCollum, and Ilhan Omar, as well as Republican Representatives Brad Finstad, Tom Emmer, Michelle Fischbach, and Pete Stauber.

Mourners have left flowers and signs in honor of Minnesota state Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, after the two were fatally shot on Saturday.

Clarence Shaffer, the neighbor of John and Yvette Hoffman, told NBC News he was awake at 2 a.m. on Saturday when he heard gunshots ring out next door.

Shaffer said he rushed out the door to see what was happening and saw a “dark black” car backing out of the Hoffmans’ driveway.

“And as he backed out, he turned his headlights on and put the police lights on. And I thought, ‘What the heck’s a cop leaving the scene after the gunshots?'” Shaffer told NBC News.

The neighbor said police arrived at the scene shortly after and questioned his account of the car.

“I said, ‘Listen to me, pal, I’m not blind,” Shaffer said.

Law enforcement believes the suspect, Vance Boelter, posed as a police officer.

The nephew of Minnesota state Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette told the Star Tribune that his uncle and aunt were in “stable condition.”

As of Saturday evening, Yvette Hoffman was “alert and awake,” Mat Ollig, the nephew, told the newspaper.

They were still waiting for John to wake up earlier in the evening.