A Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband were killed, and another politician and his wife seriously hurt, in a “politically motivated assassination” after a madman who had “No Kings” flyers and posed as a police officer turned up at their homes overnight and opened fire, authorities said. 

Former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were gunned down in their Brooklyn Park home around 2 a.m., while Sen. John Hoffman and his wife were injured in a similar shooting at their home just five miles away, authorities said.

The killer is still on the loose despite exchanging gunfire with officers who responded to Hortman’s home and briefly cornered him inside — though he left behind a “manifesto” listing the names of other politicians and a stack of papers stating “No Kings” in reference to the nationwide anti-Trump protests.

Authorities are now searching for Vance Luther Boelter, who was appointed by Gov. Tim Walz to serve a four year stint on the Governor’s Workforce Development Board, in connection with the shooting, police source said. 

The gunman first arrived at Hoffman’s Brooklyn Park home just outside Minneapolis, leaving the couple seriously hurt before moving on to Hortman’s house, officials said. 

After responding to Hoffman’s home, Champlin police notified their counterparts in nearby Brooklyn Park, where Melissa Hortman, 55, resides, alerting them to check on the lawmaker, police Chief Mark Bruley said at a Saturday news conference.

“When they arrived at Melissa’s house, they noticed that there was a police vehicle in the driveway with the emergency lights on and what appeared to be a police officer at the door coming out of the house,” Bruley said, adding that the suspect was wearing a vest, a badge and other equipment, such as a Taser, “very similar to mine.”

“When our officers confronted him, the individual immediately fired upon the officers, who exchanged gunfire, and the suspect retreated back into the home,” he continued.

“It was not a real police officer. This is someone that clearly had been impersonating a police officer who uses the trust of this badge and this uniform to manipulate their way into the home.”

The suspect managed to flee, said authorities, who called the shootings “targeted.” 

Melissa Hortman was declared dead at the scene. Her husband, Mark, was initially alive as police entered the home, but died as first responders tried to deliver life-saving measures. The couple had two children. 

The Hoffmans, who were each pumped with multiple bullets, were rushed into surgery and are in stable condition, officials said.

Walz called the shootings “an unspeakable tragedy,” and said the incident “appears to be a politically motivated assassination.” 

A manhunt is on for the suspect, who was wearing black body armor over a blue shirt and blue pants.

Inside his car, cops found a “manifesto that identified many other lawmakers and other officials,” Bruley said, though officials would not reveal which political players were mentioned or any other details about the document.

The gunman also left behind a stack of papers stating “No Kings” in the car.

There were numerous protests planned for Minnesota, as well as the rest of the country, for the event, which organizers described as “a national day of action and mass mobilization in response to the increasing authoritarian excesses and corruption of the Trump administration.”

“Given the targeted shootings of state lawmakers overnight, we are asking the public to not attend today’s planned demonstrations across Minnesota out of an abundance of caution,” the Minnesota State Patrol said on Facebook.

Hortman had served in the state House of Representatives since 2004, was minority leader from 2017 to 2019, and worked as the speaker from 2019 through February. The progressive, pro-choice Democrat often spoke out in favor of trans rights.

Just five days before the murders, Hortman faced intense criticism for voting to cut access to state health benefits for illegal immigrants in Minnesota.

She was the only Democrat to side with Republicans, providing the GOP with the carrying vote. Walz indicated he intends to sign the measure when it lands on his desk.

The vote came after weeks of negotiations for a budget compromise, and the GOP made it clear they would not be satisfied without the MinnesotaCare repeal.

Hortman was reduced to tears after she cast her affirmative vote, saying: “I know that people will be hurt by that vote and we worked very hard to get a budget deal that didn’t include that provision,” adding that she understood her fellow caucus members were frustrated with her decision.

“They’re right to be mad at me,” she said, “I think some of them are pretty, pretty angry. I think that their job was to make folks who voted for that bill feel like crap, and I think that they succeeded.”

Hoffman, 60, was one of 16 who did not approve the measure on the state Senate side.

Cops ordered a shelter-in-place for the three-mile radius surrounding the Edinburgh Golf Course near Melissa Hortman’s home.

“Police are looking for a suspect in multiple targeted shootings who is armed and dangerous,” Brooklyn Park Police said in an emergency alert sent to residents at 5:30 a.m.

“Suspect is white male, brown hair, wearing black body armor over blue shirt and blue pants and may misrepresent himself as law enforcement.”

US Sen. Amy Klobuchar said she was “heartbroken and horrified” by Hortman’s death.

“She was a true public servant to the core, dedicating her life to serving Minnesotans with integrity and compassion,” Klobuchar wrote on X.