A search is underway in Sibley County after a vehicle of the Twin Cities’ shooting suspect was found Sunday morning, according to an emergency alert.
The alert says the vehicle was found near Minnesota Highway 25 and 301st Avenue in Faxon Township in Sibley County, and the suspect was not located.
“Keep your doors locked and vehicles secured,” the alert continued. “Report suspicious activity to 911.” It also said law enforcement will be going to residences in the area to ask to search properties.
Wife pulled over Saturday
On Saturday, law enforcement pulled over the wife of suspect Vance L. Boelter during a traffic stop in Mille Lacs County, Minn., according to the sheriff in that county. She is not in custody, Minnesota Department of Public Safety spokesman Howie Padilla said Sunday morning.
Authorities named Vance Boelter Saturday as the suspect in the 3:35 a.m. shootings that killed Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband at their Brooklyn Park home, and shootings that injured Sen. John Hoffman and his wife at their Champlin house about 2 a.m.
Mille Lacs County sheriff’s deputies assisted law enforcement from Hennepin County with a traffic stop between 10:30 and 11 a.m. Saturday near a convenience store in Onamia, said Sheriff Kyle Burton. Staff who responded told Burton that the shooting suspect’s wife was in the vehicle, along with several other relatives.
Burton was also told that law enforcement from Hennepin County detained the people in the car. Additional information wasn’t released by the state’s Department of Public Safety as of Sunday morning.
Boelter’s wife, Jenny, did not immediately respond to a message from the Pioneer Press Sunday morning.
Suspect lives in Sibley County
Vance and Jenny Boelter own a home in Green Isle, Minn., in Sibley County, which is about an hour’s drive southwest of the Twin Cities. Onamia, where Jenny Boelter was pulled over, is about 125 miles north of the couple’s home.
Vance Boelter was seen on surveillance camera in Minneapolis around 6 a.m. Saturday, authorities said. Boelter rented a room in a Minneapolis home and lived there some during the week for work in the area, a housemate said Saturday.
The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Boelter, who authorities said was impersonating an officer when he shot the DFL lawmakers and their spouses.
U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar said Sunday morning on “Meet the Press” that the large-scale manhunt for Boelter has spread throughout the Midwest, including South Dakota.
Kristi Miller contributed to this report.