The wife of suspect Vance Boelter spoke out for the first time since two Minnesota state politicians and their spouses were shot, saying she and her family are “absolutely shocked, heartbroken and completely blindsided” by the violent incident that killed one couple and seriously injured the other.
Boelter is accused of killing Melissa Hortman, a member of the Minnesota State House, and her husband, Mark, as well as injuring John Hoffman, a member of the Minnesota State Senate, and his wife in a separate shooting.
He is facing state and federal charges including murder, firearms offenses and stalking, and could face the death penalty. He has not yet entered a plea.
Authorities called the shooting a“politically motivated assassination.”
In a statement through the law firm representing her, Halberg Criminal Defense, Jenny Boelter offered her “deepest sympathies” to the victims’ families.
“This violence does not at all align with our beliefs as a family. It is a betrayal of everything we hold true as tenets of our Christian faith. We are appalled and horrified by what occurred and our hearts are incredibly heavy for the victims of this unfathomable tragedy,” the statement read.
She added that the family has fully cooperated with authorities since the beginning of the investigation and thanked them for apprehending her husband before further harm was done.
It’s the first time the public has heard from Jenny Boelter since the June 14 attacks. The statement comes as more details emerge fromcourt documents about the investigation into Boelter’s actions that morning and the ensuing manhunt.
His public defender, Manny K. Atwal, had no comment on the release of the documents. Boelter is scheduled to appear in federal court in St. Paul, Minnesota on Friday for a preliminary detention hearing.
Jenny Boelter was initially “not forthcoming with knowledge of her husband being involved in something serious,” according to a search warrant affidavit obtained by CNN affiliate KARE and reviewed by CNN. She later told law enforcement that she had received messages from her husband in the early morning hours instructing her to take the kids to her parents’ home because people with guns may come to their house, the documents say.
She told authorities that Vance Boelter had recently bought masks for his security business and still owned the police-like vehicle the suspect used in his alleged attacks.
During their investigation, special agents with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension applied for warrants to track Boelter’s WhatsApp account and review his Amazon purchases, according to the documents.
Boelter was a “prepper,” and had given his wife a “bailout plan” in case of “exigent circumstances,” an FBI agent investigating the casesaid in another recently unsealed affidavit.
The affidavit does not imply that Boelter’s wife knew about his alleged plans to attack the lawmakers, and she has not been charged with any crime.
After the shootings, investigators found two handguns, passports for Jenny Boelter and her children and about $10,000 in cash in the vehicle she was in when she met with law enforcement, according to the affidavit.
During an interview, Boelter’s wife said that she received a group text message from Boelter in a thread with their children.
“Dad went to war last night … I don’t wanna say more because I don’t wanna implicate anybody,” one text from Boelter to members of his family read, according to afederal complaintunsealed last week.
It took less than two days for authorities to identify and locate Boelter. But in those 43 hours, they obtained numerous search warrants that offer new insight into the massive multi-agency effort to find and locate the alleged gunman.
Authorities found a receipt for a Minneapolis storage unit in the car Boelter allegedly abandoned after the shootout at the Hoffman home, along with a hit list that included the names of abortion providers, pro-abortion advocates and lawmakers in Minnesota and other states.
Authorities searched the storage unit and recovered five body bags, four soft-side gun cases, a gray tarp and gun cleaning supplies, according to a search warrant.
Authorities also searched the area around the Hoffman home and recovered a light-colored mask and a brown-haired wig in nearby woods, as well as a thigh holster, a replica Beretta and a conceal and carry badge.
A search of Boelter’s property in Sibley County, in the town of Green Isle, recovered nearly 50 firearms, a ghillie camoflagesuit and nearly $18,000 in cash. He also had at least 12 vehicles registered to him at his home in Sibley County.
Officials were tracking a cellphone they believed belonged to the suspect when they received a call from an unexpected location — a local home improvement store.
Boelter turned off his cellphone right after the killings, but turned it on the next day, according to the documents.
As law enforcement officers closed in on the cellphone’s location, they received a tip that the phone was at a Home Depot in a Minneapolis suburb, where employees were trying to find its owner. Authorities responded and collected the iPhone 13 as evidence.
Boelter was found at 7:30 p.m. June 15 after a Sibley County resident spotted him on a trail camera. Authorities were able to spot him using infrared technology on a drone.
Once found, Boelter “crawled” to law enforcement and was taken into custody without incident. He remains in custody at the Sherburne County Jail.
CNN’s Hanna Park and Jennifer Feldman contributed to this story