星期天晚上，温迪·托马斯在明尼苏达州绿岛的田野里看到一个人，当时她正在和父亲打电话。
她告诉记者，托马斯看着这个人走到一个涵洞前蹲下明尼阿波利斯中航KSTP分公司.
“我当时想，‘爸爸，那是个人，’”她告诉媒体。“他说，‘挂掉电话，打电话给谁。’"
她说，过了一会儿，托马斯示意一名执法人员下来，并告诉他们她在涵洞外看到的那个人。随之而来的是逮捕明尼苏达州持枪嫌犯万斯·波尔特，当地、州和联邦执法部门花了43个小时试图找到他。
波尔特被指控杀人民主党明尼苏达州众议员梅丽莎·霍特曼和她的丈夫马克，并伤人民主党州参议员约翰·霍夫曼和他的妻子伊维特，明尼苏达州代理联邦检察官约瑟夫·汤普森说，这是“政治暗杀”。
官员们说，博尔特据称在周六凌晨半夜出现在他们的门前，假装成一名警察，戴着一个看起来很逼真的面具，并指出另外两名议员在枪击事件当晚幸免于难。
汤普森说，波尔特据称监视了受害者的家，并做了笔记。根据宣誓书，在搜查与博尔特有关的明尼阿波利斯北部的一所房子时，当局查获了一份公职人员名单，上面有梅丽莎·霍特曼的名字，上面写着“已婚马克2子女第11任期”。宣誓书说，另一个笔记本在梅丽莎·霍特曼的名字旁边增加了一个符号，写着“高尔夫球场外的大房子，从一个地方看有两个方向”。
汤普森说，他“像跟踪猎物一样跟踪受害者”，并“冷血地射杀他们”。
官员们说，博尔特面临包括跟踪和枪支指控在内的联邦指控，以及包括一级谋杀在内的州指控。周一，他在联邦法院短暂露面。
动机仍在调查中。但与霍特曼一起工作的明尼苏达州参议员斯科特·特里布(Scott Dribble)周一告诉美国广播公司新闻(ABC News)，他“非常担心政治言论的性质，特别是在右翼极端分子中。”
Dribble指出，他认为近年来“那些最高层的人开始发表非人化的言论，将政府工具政治化，将我们的军队政治化，并真正呼吁暴力回应，而不是真正进行激烈的政策辩论。”
明尼苏达州副州长佩吉·弗拉纳根说，“每个党派的每个当选官员都必须降低温度。”弗拉纳根周一告诉美国广播公司新闻，当选代表和政府工作人员应该在困难时期展示他们的“人性”，并跨越通道。
“我们的社区，我们的家庭，你知道，互相照顾，互相帮助。在这个充满分歧言论的时代，这一点需要继续传递下去。
“我们国家前进的方式不是通过仇恨。不是通过暴力，”明尼苏达州州长蒂姆·沃尔兹在周一的一份声明中补充道。"这是通过谦卑、恩典和怜悯."
星期二，唐纳德·特朗普总统拒绝给瓦尔兹打电话去年11月，他和卡玛拉·哈里斯一起前去吊唁。
“我不想给他打电话，”特朗普说。“我认为明尼苏达州州长太累了。我不会给他打电话的。我为什么要给他打电话?我可以打电话说，“嗨，你好吗?”呃，那家伙不知道。他一团糟。我可以打电话给你，但为什么要浪费时间?"
沃尔兹的发言人回应说:“沃尔兹州长希望特朗普总统成为所有美国人的总统，但这场悲剧不是关于特朗普或沃尔兹的。这关系到霍特曼家族、霍夫曼家族和明尼苏达州，州长仍然专注于帮助这三个家族痊愈。”
与此同时，参议院民主党人和共和党人周二收到了一份重点关注成员安全的简报，此前有消息称许多国会议员被包括在内波尔特所谓的潜在目标名单上，但立法者对安全细节守口如瓶。
根据执法部门的消息，明尼苏达州参议员蒂娜·史密斯(Tina Smith)在嫌疑人名单上，他说，“我认为为了成员的安全，我们不要谈论太多为了保护我们的安全而采取的措施，这很重要。”
参议院少数党领袖查克·舒默表示，两党都在推动为成员安全划拨额外资金。
舒默说:“针对包括参议员在内的民选官员的暴力和威胁急剧增加，这意味着我们需要更多的保护和更多的资金。”。
Minnesota shootings latest: Witness recalls moment she spotted suspect
Wendy Thomas was on the phone with her father when she saw someone in a field in Green Isle, Minnesota, on Sunday night.
Thomas watched as the person reached a culvert and squatted, she toldMinneapolis ABC affiliate KSTP.
"I was like, 'Dad, that’s somebody,'" she told the outlet. "He said, 'Hang up and call somebody.'"
Moments later, Thomas was flagging down a member of law enforcement, she said, and telling them about the man she’d seen out by the culvert. What followed was the arrest of thesuspected Minnesota gunman, Vance Boelter,whom local, state and federal law enforcement had been trying to locate for about 43 hours.
Boelter is accused of killingDemocratic Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortmanand her husband, Mark, and woundingDemocratic state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette,in "political assassinations," acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota Joseph Thompson said.
Boelter allegedly showed up to their doors in the middle of the night early Saturday impersonating a police officer and wearing a realistic-looking mask, officials said, noting that two other lawmakers were spared the night of the shootings.
Boelter allegedly surveilled his victims' homes and took notes, Thompson said. In a search of a home in north Minneapolis tied to Boelter, authorities seized a list of public officials that had a notation under Melissa Hortman's name reading, "married Mark 2 children 11th term," according to the affidavit. Another notebook included an added notation next to Melissa Hortman's name reading, "Big house off golf course 2 ways in to watch from one spot," the affidavit said.
He "stalked his victims like prey" and "shot them in cold blood," Thompson said.
Boelter is facing federal charges including stalking and firearms charges and state charges including first-degree murder, officials said. He made a brief appearance in federal court on Monday.
A motive remains under investigation. But Minnesota state Sen. Scott Dribble, who worked with Hortman, told ABC News on Monday that he was "very concerned about the nature of the rhetoric that's occurring with politics, especially among right-wing extremists."
Dribble pointed to what he saw as a change in recent years for "those at the highest levels to engage in rhetoric of dehumanization, politicizing instruments of government, politicizing our military, and really calling for a violent response rather than really having vigorous policy debates."
Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan said "every elected official of every stripe and party has to turn down the temperature." Elected representatives and government staffers should in difficult times be displaying their "humanity" and reaching across the aisle, Flanagan told ABC News on Monday.
"Our community, our families, you know, taking care of each other, stepping up for one another. And that needs to continue to be the message during this time of divisive rhetoric," she said.
"The way our nation moves forward is not through hate. It is not through violence," Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz added in a statement Monday. "It is through humility, and grace, and compassion."
On Tuesday,President Donald Trump refused to call Walz, who ran alongside Kamala Harris last November, to offer condolences.
"I don't want to call him," Trump said. "I think the governor of Minnesota is so whacked out. I’m not calling him. Why would I call him? I could call and say, ‘Hi, how you doing?’ Uh, the guy doesn’t have a clue. He’s a mess. I could be nice and call, but why waste time?"
Walz’s spokesperson said in response, "Governor Walz wishes that President Trump would be a President for all Americans, but this tragedy isn’t about Trump or Walz. It’s about the Hortman family, the Hoffman family, and the State of Minnesota, and the Governor remains focused on helping all three heal."
Meanwhile, Senate Democrats and Republicans on Tuesday received a briefing focused on member safety after it was revealed thata number of members of Congress were includedon Boelter's alleged lists of potential targets -- but lawmakers were tight-lipped on the safety details.
Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn. -- who was on the suspect's list, according to law enforcement sources -- said, "I think it's important for member safety that we don't talk a lot about what is being done to keep us safe in order to keep us safe."
Senator Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said there's a bipartisan push for additional funding to be appropriated for member safety.
"The violence, the threats, against elected officials including people in the Senate has dramatically increased, and that means we need more protection, more money," Schumer said.
