David Bridges
Key Points
- Incident: Two lawmakers, Melissa Hortman and John Hoffman, were shot in June 2025, resulting in Hortman’s death.
- Survivor: Hoffman survived the attack and has called for action against violence in the United States.
- Details: The shootings occurred in Champlin and Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, with links to their respective spouses also being shot.
- Suspect: The assailant, Vance Luther Boelter, impersonated a police officer during the shootings.
Two Democratic lawmakers Melissa Hortman and John Hoffman were shot overnight in separate locations in June 2025. Hortman died as a result, but Hoffman survived and called for action to combat the ongoing violence in the United States.
Read on to learn what happened to Hortman and Hoffman.
Who Is Melissa Hortman?
Hortman, 55, was the Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives. She represented District 34B in Minnesota and was a member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL).
Apart from her political career, Hortman was a mother of two children and was married to her husband, Mark Hortman. She and her husband died after being shot in June 2025.
Who Is John Hoffman?
Hoffman is a 60-year-old member of the Minnesota Senate. Like Hortman, Hoffman is a part of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), and he represents District 34.
Hoffman survived the shooting. He returned to speak at the Democratic National Committee’s summer meeting in Minneapolis to address the harrowing incident.
“I’m still slowly recovering from my gunshot wounds — nine of them,” Hoffman explained. “If you want to see the pattern on my body, it’s the same pattern that’s in my red door that I no longer have, although I do still have a long way to go.”
Hoffman added, “We must call Americans to action in ways that don’t incite intimidation and political violence, right? Having our own homes violated by pure evil cannot be the new normal, right? … I believe all Americans and Minnesotans want to talk to each other again without being demeaned and without the threat of violence.”
Hortman & Hoffman Shooting Details
Hortman and Hoffman were shot in separate locations in Champlin and Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, in what appears to be a related incident, per Fox 9. Their respective spouses were shot as well, according to multiple outlets.
I’ve activated the State Emergency Operations Center.
Local law enforcement in Champlin and Brooklyn Park have the full resources of the State of Minnesota behind them.
We are monitoring the situation closely and will share more information soon.
— Governor Tim Walz (@GovTimWalz) June 14, 2025
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz confirmed via X that he “activated the State Emergency Operations Center” and that “local law enforcement in Champlin and Brooklyn Park have the full resources of the State of Minnesota behind them.”
“We are monitoring the situation closely and will share more information soon,” Walz added.
Walz confirmed that Hortman and her husband were dead and that Hoffman and his wife were wounded.
Who Shot Hortman & Hoffman?
The suspect in Hortman and Hoffman’s shootings is Vance Luther Boelter, who impersonated a police officer before carrying out the shootings.
