‘The stuff of nightmares’: Vance Boelter targeted 4 lawmakers’ homes night of Minnesota assassinations: police

Boelter, 57, had a list of approximately 45 elected officials in the notebook in his car, and two other lawmakers' lives were spared the night of the shootings.

Police said that the suspect first drove to the Hoffmans' home located in Champlin, Minnesota in a black SUV, which had emergency lights turned on, per ABC News. He is facing charges of murder in the shooting of Hortman and her husband as well as attempted murder in the shooting of Hoffman and his wife.

When he arrived at the Hoffmans' home, Boelter was wearing a "hyper-realistic silicon mask," US Attorney for the District of Minnesota Joseph Thompson said in a press conference.

"He conducted surveillance of their homes and took notes about the location of their homes. He also prepared in other ways. He concealed himself as a police officer, outfitting his black SUV with police lights and a police license plate, wearing a black tactical vest and body armor, carrying a police flashlight and a handgun. Of course, he wore that hyper-realistic silicone mask," Thompson said of the tactics used by Boelter.

When Boelter allegedly knocked on the front door of the Hoffmans' home, he yelled, "This is the police, open the door!" The suspect then shined the light in the faces of both Hoffman and his wife and said there was a shooting reported, then asked if they had weapons. The couple yelled, “You're not a cop!" and then the suspect announced, "This is a robbery," before he got into the home, shooting the couple.

Boelter then allegedly drove to another state representative's house at 2:24 am in Maple Grove, Minnesota. The representative and her family were on vacation at the time, so he drove to a state senator's home in New Hope, according to Thompson.

He parked on the street, and another officer arrived to check on the state senator because of a 911 call placed after the Hoffman shooting. The police officer pulled up next to Boelter's vehicle, and attempted to speak to him, thinking that he was another officer who had been dispatched to the area, however, Boelter stared straight ahead, Thompson said. The officer drove over to the lawmaker's home in New Hope and waited for more law enforcement.

Boelter left the scene at the time, Thompson said. Officers had also been dispatched to Hortman's home because of the shooting at the Hoffmans household. When they got to the scene, "they saw Boelter's black SUV parked in the driveway with the emergency lights flashing, and they saw Boelter standing in front of the house, several feet from the door," Thompson added.

"When Boelter saw the officers get out of the car, he drew his weapon and began firing. He rushed into the house through the front door, firing into it. He repeatedly fired into the house, and when he entered, he murdered Representative Hortman and her husband Mark."

Police fired at Boelter as he entered the home, but he was able to escape out the back. Thompson added that he had "planned his attack carefully. He researched his fam, his victims and their families. He used the Internet and other tools to find their addresses and names, the names of the family members."

"It's no exaggeration to say this, this is stuff of nightmares," Thompson later said.