Tuesday, June 17

Warning: This article contains sensitive information that may be inappropriate for young children.

Vance Boelter, the man who shot two Minnesota lawmakers on Saturday, has been caught after a massive manhunt, and he could face the federal death penalty for his actions.

Boelter arrived at the home of Minnesota Senator John Hoffman early on Saturday morning before shooting him nine times, firing another eight bullets at his wife. Miraculously, authorities quickly arrived and took them to the hospital, where they underwent surgery and are making a recovery. However, Boelter continued to the house of Representative Melissa Hortman, fatally shooting her and her husband just as police arrived for a routine check. Read more into the initial incident here.

The resulting manhunt was the largest in Minnesota state history, spanning various rural areas around Minneapolis. His car and hat were found in Sibley County, southwest of Minneapolis, on Sunday, where police discovered that he had posed as a police officer during the attacks-- he had been driving a car with police lights and also had a Taser, flashlight, handgun, tactical vest, and other items that any real officer might have had. Several drones found him crawling through some underbrush in the area soon after, and he was eventually arrested near the town of Green Isle, where he maintained a home with his wife and children. He later admitted to the FBI that he had assassinated Hortman and attempted to assassinate Hoffman.

Local authorities also found a hit list of over 70 people inside his car, which included at least 45 politicians who were all Democrats. They believe that it is likely he would have continued with the attacks if police had not gone for that routine check on Hortman's house on Saturday morning.

In fact, it was later uncovered that Boelter arrived at the homes of two other Minnesota lawmakers that night, but they had both lucked out. After shooting Hoffman, he came to the house of a representative living in the suburb of Maple Grove, and he was captured on camera by the doorbell. However, she was on vacation.

Then, he headed to the home of Senator Ann Rest in the town of New Hope, but he encountered another police officer who had already come to her house to check on her after the shooting of Hoffman. The officer assumed Boelter was just another policeman who had come to check on Senator Rest, and he was able to get away quickly.

After that, he arrived at the home of the Hortmans, where police found him standing on the porch. He fired at them before making his way into the house, fatally shooting both the representative and her husband, and then escaping on foot.

His exact motive is still unclear, but the attacks came as a shock to the entire country-- political assassinations are extremely rare in the United States. US President Donald Trump, among others, also condemned the attacks, establishing that political violence "has no place in the United States of America."

Prosecutors have charged Boelter with two counts of second-degree murder and two additional counts of attempted second-degree murder, and they are looking to bring the charges up to first-degree murder. He appeared in court for the first time on Monday, and his initial hearing has been set for June 27. He has also been indicted separately by other officials, which could result in Boelter receiving the federal death penalty.

Fact of the Day: Murder rates rise in summer. Ever feel angry or in a bad mood when the weather is hot? Well, you’re not alone. Violent crime goes up in hotter weather, and in the US, murder rates reportedly rise by 2.7 per cent over the summer.

Quote of the Day (Gracious Quotes): You have to believe in the long term plan you have but you need the short term goals to motivate and inspire you. (Roger Federer)

Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster): Garrulous (adj, GAIR-uh-lus) - Someone described as garrulous is very talkative. When garrulous is used to describe a piece of language (such as a speech), it means “containing many and often too many words; wordy.”

In a Sentence: One of the dinner party guests was a garrulous poet whose stories kept most of us in stitches.