Manhunt continues for suspect in shootings of Minnesota lawmakers

WASHINGTON: Police and FBI agents waged a huge manhunt on Sunday for a gunman who killed a Democratic state lawmaker and her husband in Minnesota in what officials called a politically motivated attack.

As the search stretched into its second day, police appeared to close in on the shooter, finding a car described as related to him, but not the man himself. America reeled from its latest spasm of political violence as lawmakers called for a return to civility in political discourse that has been overheated and angry for years.

Authorities searched for a man identified as Vance Boelter, 57, who also allegedly shot and wounded another lawmaker and his wife early Saturday in the northern state bordering Canada.

Officials said Boelter impersonated a police officer as he came to the homes of these couples near Minneapolis and shot them, and that officers found a manifesto and a list of other lawmakers and potential targets in his car.

Boelter fled on foot after exchanging gunfire with officers after the second shooting. On Sunday officers located another car related to Boelter in a rural area about a 90-minute drive west of Minneapolis, the Sibley County Sheriff´s Office told AFP.

Residents were warned of the find and agents are scouring the area, the office said without explaining how the vehicle is related to the suspect.

Officials have issued security alerts in South Dakota and other states as the hunt proceeds, US Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota said Sunday as she mourned her slain friend, Democratic state representative Melissa Hortman.