Vance Boelter, a former state board appointee, was arrested Sunday after allegedly killing ex-House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, and wounding Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, ending the largest manhunt in Minnesota’s history.
Published On 16 Jun 202516 Jun 2025
The assassination attempt on the presidential hopeful has rattled the country, which fears a return to darker days.
Colombian Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay is reported to be in extremely critical condition after undergoing surgery to tend to a brain bleed, just more than a week after being shot in the head during a campaign event.
The attack was part of an eruption of violence that has stoked fears of a return to the darker days of assassinations and bombings.
The Santa Fe Foundation hospital on Monday said that Uribe was stable after undergoing a “complementary” operation to his original surgery, but remained in serious critical condition.
It added that an urgent neurological procedure had been necessary because of clinical evidence and imaging showing an acute inter-cerebral bleed, but that the brain swelling persisted and bleeding remained difficult to control.
The 39-year-old potential presidential candidate from the right-wing opposition was shot in the head twice on June 7 during a rally in Bogota.
The assassination attempt, which was caught on video, recalled a streak of candidate assassinations in the 1980s and 1990s, a time when fighting between armed rebels, paramilitary groups, drug traffickers and state security forces touched the lives of many Colombians.
Three suspects, including a 15-year-old alleged shooter, are in custody. An adult man and woman are also being held.
The 15-year-old boy, who police believe was a “sicario” or hitman working for money, was charged last week with the attempted murder of Uribe, to which he pleaded not guilty. He was also charged with carrying a firearm.
The adult man, Carlos Eduardo Mora, has been charged for alleged involvement in planning the attack, providing the gun and being in the vehicle where the shooter changed his clothes after the attack, according to the attorney general’s office.
Uribe is a senator for the conservative Democratic Centre party and one of several candidates who hope to succeed left-wing President Gustavo Petro in the 2026 presidential vote.
He comes from a prominent political family. His grandfather, Julio Cesar Turbay, was president from 1978 to 1982, and his mother, journalist Diana Turbay, was killed in 1991 in a botched rescue attempt after being kidnapped by an armed group led by drug cartel lord Pablo Escobar.
The main dissident faction of the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebel group on Friday denied responsibility for the attack on Uribe, though it did accept responsibility for a series of unrelated bomb attacks.
Southwest Colombia was rocked by a series of explosions and gun attacks last week which has left at least seven people dead. The attacks hit Cali, the country’s third-largest city, and the nearby towns of Corinto, El Bordo and Jamundi, targeting police stations and other municipal buildings with car and motorcycle bombs, rifle fire and a suspected drone.
Colombia’s government has struggled to contain violence in urban and rural areas as several rebel groups try to take over territory abandoned by the FARC after its peace deal with the government.
Peace talks between the FARC-EMC faction and the government broke down last year after a series of attacks on Indigenous communities.
Police in the United States have captured Vance Boelter, accused of fatally shooting a Minnesota lawmaker and injuring another, after a two-day manhunt.
“The face of evil. After relentless and determined police work, the killer is now in custody,” the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office said in a social media post on Sunday.
Here is all we know about the 57-year-old suspect and the case that has rattled the Midwestern state and raised concerns about political violence in the US.
On Saturday, Boelter allegedly shot and wounded state Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, in their home in Champlin city. The Champlin police said they responded to reports of gunfire at the Hoffmans’ house about 2:07am (07:07 GMT).
Boelter is accused of then heading to Brooklyn Park, where he allegedly fatally shot another Democratic lawmaker, Melissa Hortman, a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives, and her husband, Mark in their home, about 15km (9 miles) from the Hoffmans’ house.
Authorities said the suspect posed as a police officer and also modified his vehicle, a Ford SUV, to look like a police car.
Boelter, a self-described security professional, was a political appointee on a state workforce development board. Records show that Hoffman was on the same 60-member board, but it is unclear whether Boelter and Hoffman knew each other.
According to state records, Boelter was first appointed to the board in 2016 by then-Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton and reappointed in 2019 by current Governor Tim Walz, a Democrat, for a four-year term until 2023.
Boelter’s wife filed to create a company called Praetorian Guard Security Services LLC with the same address as the couple’s listed mailing address in Green Isle in Sibley County, according to corporate records. The company offers security services, including contract security guards for sites, including residential properties and schools.
Authorities identified Boelter as a suspect on Saturday, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to his arrest and conviction.
Walz said Boelter was apprehended on Sunday. “One man’s unthinkable actions have altered the state of Minnesota,” Walz said after Boelter’s arrest.
Law enforcement agents found three AK-47 assault rifles, a 9-mm handgun, a list of names and addresses of other public officials, a mask and a police-style gold badge in Boelter’s SUV, according to a criminal complaint unsealed on Sunday and shared by multiple news outlets.
According to the criminal complaint, Boelter is charged with four felony charges: two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree attempted murder.
According to the complaint, three of these four charges can lead to maximum jail terms of 40 years. His bail is set at $5m.
Boelter is being held in the Hennepin County Jail in Minneapolis. He is scheduled to appear in court on Monday at 1:30pm (18:30 GMT).
CBS News, quoting unnamed law enforcement officials, reported that Boelter was arrested near his home in Green Isle. Sibley County is in the south-central part of Minnesota with a population of 14,836, according to the 2020 US Census.
The New York Times also reported that the police found what was believed to be Boelter’s vehicle in Green Isle, 10 minutes from Boelter’s listed address.
Both Hortman and Hoffman belonged to Minnesota’s Democratic Party-affiliated Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party.
Hortman, 55, had been a Democratic leader in the House since 2017. She also served as the speaker of the House for six years until 2024 when Democrats lost their majority, making way for Republican Lisa Demuth. Hortman and her husband are survived by two adult children.
Initial autopsy reports from the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office listed the causes of the Hortmans’ deaths as “multiple gunshot wounds”. The reports said Melissa Hortman died at the scene while her husband died in the hospital.
In 2023, Melissa Hortman helped pioneer protections for abortion rights, safeguarding the status of Minnesota as a refuge for people seeking abortions in the wake of the US Supreme Court ruling overturning the constitutional right to an abortion.
The Champlin police found the Hoffmans with “multiple gunshot wounds”. According to Walz, both underwent surgery. “We are cautiously optimistic they will survive this assassination attempt,” Walz said at a news conference, adding that Hoffman was hit by nine bullets.
John Hoffman, 60, was elected to the Minnesota Senate in 2012. The Hoffmans have an adult daughter.
The Minnesota State Patrol posted photos on its X account on Saturday of papers with “NO KINGS” handwritten on them. “The photo is of flyers inside the vehicle of the suspect in today’s shootings,” the agency posted.
Some No Kings protests, which were critical of President Donald Trump’s policies, were cancelled on Saturday in Minnesota as a result on the recommendation of Walz while other protests commenced as planned. Walz cancelled his scheduled appearance at a protest at the state capital, St Paul, where thousands of protesters gathered outside the State Capitol building, about 40km (25 miles) from where the shootings took place.
The No Kings protests were coordinated across the US on Saturday, Trump’s 79th birthday and the day he hosted a parade in Washington, DC, to mark the US army’s 250th anniversary.
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. pic.twitter.com/7hFccnrQUT
— MN State Patrol (@MnDPS_MSP) June 14, 2025
Walz said he considers the assassinations “politically motivated” during a news conference on Saturday, but the exact motive is unknown. Al Jazeera has not been able to independently clarify whether Boelter has voted Democrat or Republican recently.
In Minnesota, voters are not required to declare their political affiliations when registering to vote. A report linked to the workforce boards in 2016 and 2020 listed Boelter as having “none or other” affiliation and “no party preference” respectively, The New York Times reported.
However, a man named David Carlson, who identified himself as Boelter’s current roommate, told the Minnesota-based television channel KARE-TV that Boelter voted for Trump in the 2024 election. Carlson said Boelter had not discussed politics recently.
The Minnesota Star Tribune newspaper reported that the police found a list purportedly written by Boelter containing the names of “prominent pro-choice individuals in Minnesota, including many Democratic lawmakers”. The Tribune also quoted Carlson saying that Boelter “really hated abortion” through the 1990s.
The AP reported that Carlson also read texts to reporters that Boelter had sent to friends: “I’m going to be gone for a while. May be dead shortly, so I just want to let you know I love you guys both and I wish it hadn’t gone this way. … I’m sorry for all the trouble this has caused.”
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said the attack “appears to be a targeted attack against State Lawmakers”.
Trump added: “Our Attorney General, Pam Bondi, and the FBI, are investigating the situation, and they will be prosecuting anyone involved to the fullest extent of the law. Such horrific violence will not be tolerated in the United States of America. God Bless the great people of Minnesota, a truly great place!”
Minnesota’s House speaker said in a statement: “I am devastated by the loss of Speaker-Emerita Melissa Hortman. She was respected by everyone at the Capitol as a formidable advocate for her values and her caucus. She battled fiercely, but never let it impact the personal bond that we developed serving as caucus leaders. Few legislators have had as large an impact on the State of Minnesota, and she was a nationally-recognized leader in energy policy.”
Demuth added that her prayers are also with Hoffman and his wife. “Political violence is abhorrent and unacceptable, and my prayers are with the men and women in law enforcement who are working to stop this evil and bring the perpetrator to justice.”
Search for 57-year-old Vance Luther Boelter, charged with killing Democratic politician Melissa Hortman and her husband, enters a second day.
A massive search in the United States for a man who authorities say posed as a police officer and fatally shot a Democratic state lawmaker in Minnesota has stretched into a second day, with the state’s governor calling it “a politically motivated assassination”.
The suspect, identified as 57-year-old Vance Luther Boelter, also allegedly shot and wounded a second Democratic lawmaker and his wife, according to law enforcement officials and the FBI.
The large-scale manhunt entered its second day on Sunday after Boelter allegedly killed former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, at their home in Brooklyn Park, a suburb of Minneapolis city, early on Saturday.
Boelter is also accused of shooting and wounding Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, at their home about 15km (9 miles) away in the nearby town of Champlin.
The suspect abandoned a vehicle that looked like a police SUV and fled on foot after firing at police at Hortman’s home, authorities said, adding that officers found a “manifesto” and a target list of other politicians and institutions in the vehicle.
Boelter should be considered armed and dangerous and is believed to still be in the Minneapolis-St Paul area, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans told a news briefing, adding that it was too soon to determine a motive.
The FBI issued a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to his arrest and conviction.
Boelter, a former political appointee, served on the same state workforce development board as Hoffman, though it is unclear if or how well they knew each other. An online resume describes him as a security contractor with experience in the Middle East and Africa, along with past managerial roles in Minnesota companies.
A Minnesota official told The Associated Press news agency on condition of anonymity that Boelter’s writings contained information targeting prominent lawmakers who have championed abortion rights.
According to the Minnesota Star Tribune, Boelter sent texts to friends hours after the shootings, saying he had “made some choices” and adding: “I’m going to be gone for a while. May be dead shortly, so I just want to let you know I love you guys both and I wish it hadn’t gone this way … I’m sorry for all the trouble this has caused.”
Hortman, a mother of two who had served 20 years in the Minnesota House of Representatives, was remembered by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as someone with “grace, compassion and tirelessness”.
Walz, who was Kamala Harris’s Democratic vice presidential running mate in last year’s presidential election, said the attacker went to the Hortmans’ residence after shooting the Hoffmans multiple times in their home in Champlin.
“We must all, in Minnesota and across the country, stand against all forms of political violence,” said Walz, a Democrat. He also ordered flags to fly at half-staff in Hortman’s honour.
“Such horrific violence will not be tolerated in the United States of America. God Bless the great people of Minnesota, a truly great place!” President Donald Trump said in a statement.
The shootings happened at a time when political leaders nationwide have been attacked, harassed and intimidated amid deep political divisions in the US.
In April, a suspect set fire to the home of Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, forcing him and his family to flee during the Jewish holiday of Passover. The suspect said he planned to beat Shapiro with a small sledgehammer if he found him, according to court documents.
In July 2024, Trump was grazed on the ear by one of a hail of bullets that killed one of his supporters. Two months later, a man near Trump’s Florida golf course with a rifle was discovered and arrested.
Other incidents include a 2022 hammer attack on the husband of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in their San Francisco home and a 2020 plot by antigovernment hardliners to kidnap Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer and start a civil war.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said he asked Capitol police to “immediately increase security” for Minnesota Democratic Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith.
DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,
Governor Walz calls shooting attacks in US on Minnesota lawmakers an act of ‘targeted political violence’.
A top Democratic state leader, and former House speaker, and her husband were shot and killed in Minnesota, and a second lawmaker and his wife were wounded, in what appear to be politically motivated assassination attempts in the United States, local officials say.
Melissa Hortman and her spouse were killed in an “act of targeted political violence,” Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said on Saturday during a news conference.
The shootings come at a time of great political polarisation in the US, at a time when political leaders nationwide have been attacked, harassed and intimidated.
US President Donald Trump said in a White House statement that the FBI would join in the investigation. “Our Attorney General, Pam Bondi, and the FBI, are investigating the situation, and they will be prosecuting anyone involved to the fullest extent of the law. Such horrific violence will not be tolerated in the United States of America. God Bless the great people of Minnesota, a truly great place!”
An investigation is ongoing while police are still hunting the person believed to be the assailant, Walz said. Officials said the suspect was dressed as a law enforcement officer.
“An unspeakable tragedy has unfolded in Minnesota – my good friend and colleague, Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, were shot and killed early this morning in what appears to be a politically motivated assassination,” he told reporters. “Our state lost a great leader,” he said.
Walz said that in a second attack, Senator John Hoffman and his wife, of Champlin, were shot multiple times, underwent surgery and that he was “cautiously optimistic” that they would survive “this assassination attempt.”
Drew Evans, superintendent of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said that authorities were actively searching for a suspect.
Autopsies will be done to determine the extent of injuries, but Hortman and her spouse died from gunshot wounds, Evans said.
Hoffman, a Democrat, was first elected in 2012. He runs Hoffman Strategic Advisors, a consulting firm. He previously served as vice chair of the Anoka Hennepin School Board, which manages the largest school district in Minnesota. Hoffman is married and has one daughter.
Hortman is the top House Democratic leader in the state Legislature and a former House speaker. She was first elected in 2004. Hortman, a lawyer, is married and has two children.
Both Hoffman and Hortman represent districts located north of Minneapolis.
GIFFORDS, the national gun violence prevention organisation led by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, released the following statement.
“I am horrified and heartbroken by last night’s attack on two patriotic public servants,” Giffords said.
“My family and I know the horror of a targeted shooting all too well. An attack against lawmakers is an attack on American democracy itself. Leaders must speak out and condemn the fomenting violent extremism that threatens everything this country stands for.”
Giffords was shot in the head in 2011 by a gunman who killed six people and injured 12 others. She stepped down from Congress in January 2012 to focus on her recovery.
The nightclub is being replaced with a permanent memorial to one of the US’s worst mass shootings in modern history.
Survivors and family members of the 49 victims killed at an LGBTQ+ friendly nightclub in the United States have gotten their first chance to walk through it before it is demolished and replaced with a permanent memorial to what at the time was considered the worst mass shooting in modern US history.
In small groups over four days starting Wednesday, survivors and family members of those killed plan to spend half an hour at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, where Omar Mateen opened fire during a Latin night celebration on June 12, 2016, leaving 49 dead and 53 wounded. Mateen, who had pledged allegiance to ISIL (ISIS), was killed after a three-hour standoff with police.
The Pulse shooting‘s death toll was surpassed the following year when 58 people were killed and more than 850 injured among a crowd of 22,000 at a country music festival in Las Vegas.
The city of Orlando purchased the Pulse property in 2023 for $2m and plans to build a $12m permanent memorial that will open in 2027. These efforts follow a fumbled attempt to create a memorial over many years by a private foundation run by the club’s former owner.
The existing structure will be razed later this year.
“None of us thought that it would take nine years to get to this point, and we can’t go back and relitigate all of the failures along the way that have happened. But what we can do is control how we move forward together,” Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said two weeks ago, when county commissioners pledged $5m to support the city of Orlando’s plan.
The opportunity to visit the nightclub comes on the ninth anniversary of the mass shooting.
About 250 survivors and family members of those killed have responded to the city’s invitation to walk through the nightclub this week. Families of the 49 people who were killed can visit the site with up to six people in their group, and survivors can bring one person with them. The club has been cleaned, and lighting has been installed ahead of the walk-throughs.
The people invited to visit are being given the chance to ask FBI agents who investigated the massacre about what happened.
Mental health counsellors will be available to talk to those who walk through the building in what could be both a healing and traumatic moment for them.
“The building may come down, and we may finally get a permanent memorial, but that doesn’t change the fact that this community has been scarred for life,” said Brandon Wolf, who survived the massacre by hiding in a bathroom as the gunman opened fire. He does not plan to visit the site.
“There are people inside the community who still need and will continue to need support and resources.”
Police found a pipe bomb, bombing plans, and a farewell note at the home of the alleged Graz school shooter. Police say the ex-student who killed 9 teens and a teacher before killing himself. Austria held a nationwide moment of silence Wednesday.
Published On 11 Jun 202511 Jun 2025
A former student opened fire at a high school in Graz, killing at least nine people in the deadliest shooting in Austria’s modern history. The gunman, who acted alone, died by suicide, officials said. Victims include teens, a teacher, and school staff.
Published On 10 Jun 202510 Jun 2025
Colombia on edge as attacks come just days after assassination attempt on conservative presidential hopeful.
Southwest Colombia has been rocked by a series of explosions and gun attacks near police stations that have left at least four people dead, according to police, an apparent coordinated attack that authorities have blamed on rebel groups.
The attacks hit Cali – the country’s third-largest city – and the nearby towns of Corinto, El Bordo, and Jamundi, targeting police stations and other municipal buildings with car and motorcycle bombs, rifle fire and a suspected drone, the head of police Carlos Fernando Triana told local radio station La FM on Tuesday.
The bombings came just days after the attempted assassination of presidential hopeful Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay at a campaign rally in the capital Bogota, allegedly by a 15-year-old hitman, an attack that rattled a nation with a dark past of assassinations.
In Corinto, an AFP journalist witnessed the tangled wreckage of a car that had exploded next to a scorched and badly damaged municipal building.
“There are two police officers dead, and a number of members of the public are also dead,” said Triana.
Police later said at least two civilians were among those killed, and 12 others were injured.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the attacks, but military and police spokespeople blamed the strikes on the FARC-EMC, which is known to operate in the area. The group is led by former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) who broke away from the group after it signed a peace deal with the government in 2016.
Triana suggested the attacks may be linked to the third anniversary of the killing of FARC dissident leader Leider Johani Noscue, better known as “Mayimbu”.
The bombings just three days after Uribe’s attempted assassination have set Colombia further on edge.
Uribe, a member of the opposition conservative Democratic Centre party, underwent successful initial surgery on Sunday. The hospital treating him said on Tuesday that he remained stable but in critical condition.
“We continue to take the necessary actions to mitigate the impact of the injuries,” the Santa Fe Foundation hospital added in a statement.
Thousands have taken to the streets in major cities to light candles, pray and voice their anger at the assassination attempt. Authorities say they are investigating who was behind the attack on Uribe. Leftist President Gustavo Petro, who has vowed to bring peace to the country, said on Sunday that he had ordered additional security for opposition leaders in response to more threats.
Many Colombians are fearful of a return to the bloody violence of the 1980s and 1990s, when cartel attacks and political assassinations were frequent, sowing terror across the nation.
Colombia’s government has struggled to contain violence in urban and rural areas as several rebel groups try to take over territory abandoned by the FARC after its peace deal with the government.
Peace talks between the FARC-EMC faction and the government broke down last year after a series of attacks on Indigenous communities.
Two staff members from the Israeli embassy in the United States were shot and killed on Wednesday night as they left a Jewish museum in Washington, DC, prompting outrage from US and Israeli officials.
A 30-year-old man from Chicago, Illinois, named as Elias Rodriguez, has been arrested in connection with the shooting, the police said. He is the only suspect.
President Donald Trump condemned the shooting as “horrible”, stating there was no place for “hatred” in the US. Israeli President Isaac Herzog said he was “devastated” by what had unfolded in the US capital.
“This is a despicable act of hatred, of anti-Semitism, which has claimed the lives of two young employees of the Israeli embassy,” he said.
Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security, said federal authorities were investigating the attack and would bring its “depraved perpetrator” to justice.
Here is what we know so far:
Officers responded to multiple calls about a shooting near the Capital Jewish Museum at about 9:00pm on Wednesday (01:00 GMT Thursday).
The victims, a man and a woman, were leaving an event at the museum, which is in the area of 3rd and F streets in Northwest, Washington, DC, close to an FBI field office and the US attorney general’s office, when the suspect approached a group of four people and opened fire, Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith said at a news conference.
First responders found the victims unconscious and not breathing. Despite life-saving efforts, both were pronounced dead.
According to police, the suspect entered the museum after the shooting and was detained by security personnel at the event.
“Once in handcuffs, the suspect identified where he discarded the weapon, and that weapon has been recovered, and he implied that he committed the offence,” Smith said.
The two were named by the Israeli embassy in Washington, DC as Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim.
Both were members of staff. The Israeli ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, told reporters the young staffers were a couple “about to be engaged”.
“The young man purchased a ring this week with the intention of proposing to his girlfriend next week in Jerusalem,” Leiter revealed.
The suspect has been identified as 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez from Chicago, Illinois.
Reporting from close to the site of the shooting, Al Jazeera’s Heidi-Zhou Castro said the suspect was not previously on the radar of local authorities.
“He was not a known entity. There was no heightened alert prior to this happening,” she said.
So far, the police have not confirmed any motive.
Speaking on Thursday, Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Saar, blamed a “toxic anti-Semitic incitement against Israel and Jews around the world” since the Hamas-led attack on Israel in October, 2023.
When the suspect, Elias Rodriguez, was taken into custody, he began chanting: “Free, free Palestine,” Police Chief Smith said.
Mohamad Elmasry, professor of media studies at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, said the attacks were “awful” and were rightfully being condemned regardless of political ideology.
He said: “You have the Trump administration, Israel and some of their supporters coming out and saying that this is an act of anti-Semitism … and that could be the case, that it is just an act of naked anti-Jewish hatred, which obviously should be condemned,” Elmasry told Al Jazeera.
“But it’s also possible that Mr Rodriguez carried this act of vigilante violence out against the State of Israel, or that he’s taking out his frustrations over the genocide [in Gaza] or Israel’s apartheid policies, on these embassy staffers. That’s an important distinction, because if that’s the motive, then it requires a different course of action.”
“These horrible DC killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW!” President Trump posted on social media early Thursday.
“Hatred and radicalism have no place in the USA. Condolences to the families of the victims. So sad that such things as this can happen! God bless you all!”
Israeli officials also strongly condemned the incident, describing it as a “despicable act of hatred”. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said after the shooting: “We are witnessing the terrible price of anti-Semitism and the wild incitement against the State of Israel.
“I have instructed to enhance security arrangements at Israeli missions around the world and to increase protection for state representatives,” Netanyahu said.
On Thursday, reactions and condolences poured in from other countries as well.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called the shooting a “heinous act” in a post on X, adding that at the moment “we must assume there was an anti-Semitic motive.”
Kaya Kallas, the EU foreign policy chief, said: “Shocked by the shooting of two Israeli embassy staff in Washington DC. There is and should be no place in our societies for hatred, extremism, or antisemitism. I extend my condolences to the families of the victims and the people of Israel.”
France’s foreign minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, said: “The murder of two members of the Israeli embassy near the Jewish Museum in Washington is an abhorrent act of antisemitic barbarity. Nothing can justify such violence. My thoughts go to their loved ones, their colleagues, and the State of Israel.”
In Ireland, the prime minister, Micheal Martin, said: “I strongly condemn the horrific gun attack that killed two Israeli embassy staff in Washington DC last night. My deepest sympathies go to the family and friends of the couple, and the Israeli people. There can be absolutely no place for violence or hate.”
Antonio Tajani, the Italian Foreign Minister, said: “I stand with the State of Israel for the tragic murder of two young employees of the Israeli embassy in Washington. Scenes of terror and violence to be strongly condemned. antisemitism born of hatred against Jews must be stopped, the horrors of the past can never return.”
Police Chief Smith said law enforcement did not believe there was an ongoing threat to the community at present.
FBI Director Kash Patel said he and his team had been briefed on the shooting.
“While we’re working with [the Metropolitan Police Department] to respond and learn more, in the immediate, please pray for the victims and their families,” he wrote on X.
Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser told reporters her administration would not tolerate “violence or hate in our city”.
“We will not tolerate any acts of terrorism, and we’re going to stand together as a community in the coming days and weeks to send a clear message that we will not tolerate anti-Semitism,” Bowser said.
The shooting comes as Israel has launched a new military campaign in Gaza to control all of the Strip, while continuing to impose an 11-week aid blockade that has been widely condemned.
Many world leaders, including allies, have demanded that Israel end the war and let aid into the war-ravaged territory or face punitive actions.
BREAKINGBREAKING,
US Secretary of Homeland Security vows to bring ‘depraved perpetrator’ to justice.
Two staff of Israel’s embassy in the United States have been shot dead, US authorities have said.
The embassy workers were fatally shot on Wednesday outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC, according to authorities.
US Secretary of Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem said the staff had been “senselessly killed” in attack near the museum.
“We are actively investigating and working to get more information to share,” Noem said in a statement.
“Please pray for the families of the victims. We will bring this depraved perpetrator to justice.”
The American Jewish Committee, which had hosted an event at the museum, said it was “devastated that an unspeakable act of violence took place outside the venue”.
“At this moment, as we await more information from the police about exactly what transpired, our attention and our hearts are solely with those who were harmed and their families,” the organisation said.
US Attorney General Pamela Bondi said she was at the scene of the shooting and was “praying for the victims of this violence as we work to learn more”.
More to come…
Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada pledges to continue ‘relentless fight against insecurity’.
Two top aides to the mayor of Mexico City have been shot dead in the latest attack against public officials in the Latin American country.
Private secretary Ximena Guzman and adviser Jose Munoz were shot dead on Tuesday in an early morning ambush in the central neighbourhood of Moderna, city authorities said.
Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada condemned the killings and pledged to continue her administration’s “relentless fight against insecurity”.
“Investigating, clarifying and ensuring there is no impunity is our commitment,” Brugada said during a news conference.
Mexico has one of the highest murder rates on the planet, largely due to violence driven by drug cartels, but the capital is known for its relative security compared with the rest of the country.
Reporting from Mexico City, Al Jazeera’s John Holman said there had been 50 political murders in the country in the first three months of the year alone, though political killings are relatively rare in the capital.
“The reasons for this one are still unknown. But there are powerful criminal groups in the capital fighting for territory and control of lucrative rackets,” Holman said.
“Politicians can get in the way, as elsewhere in the country.”
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, a Brugada ally who previously served as the capital’s mayor, expressed condolences over the killings and said her government would ensure that “justice is served”.
“We express our solidarity and support for the families of these two individuals who have worked in our movement for a long time,” Sheinbaum said.
“We know them, we stand with their families, and we will give her [Brugada] all the support the city needs from the Mexican government.”
In 2020, Mexico City’s security chief, Omar Garcia Harfuch, survived an ambush by gunmen that killed two of his bodyguards and a bystander.
Mourners gathered to celebrate the life of 23-year-old beauty influencer Valeria Marquez, who was shot dead during a TikTok livestream at her salon in Jalisco, Mexico. Her killing is being investigated as a possible femicide.
Published On 16 May 202516 May 2025
Valeria Marquez, a 23-year-old beauty influencer, was shot dead during a TikTok livestream at a beauty salon in Mexico.
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