Childhood friend says Minnesota suspect had 'darkness inside of him'

Hours aft the shootings of 2 Minnesota lawmakers implicit the weekend, authorities asked David Carlson to place his lifelong person successful a harrowing photograph.

Carlson says helium had known and trusted Vance Boelter from the clip the 2 played unneurotic arsenic children. But helium hardly recognized the 57-year-old successful the surveillance representation constabulary showed him of Boelter wearing a flesh-colored disguise arsenic helium carried retired what authorities described arsenic a governmental rampage.

“The feline with the mask, I don’t cognize that guy,” Carlson said successful a telephone interrogation with The Associated Press, recounting his decades-long relationship with a antheral helium likened to a brother. Boelter's engagement successful specified an attack, helium said, was arsenic astonishing to him arsenic “getting struck by lightning.”

“There was a acheronian that was wrong of him," Carlson said. "He indispensable person kept it hidden."

As authorities portion unneurotic Boelter's movements and motivations, Carlson and others are conducting their ain inventory of their interactions with the one-time pastor, wondering whether they missed immoderate reddish flags.

Boelter is simply a joined begetter of 5 but often stayed astatine Carlson's location successful Minneapolis to shorten his commute to work. In hindsight, Carlson said, Boelter “was a sick man” and needed help, adjacent if those astir him didn't recognize it successful time.

Law enforcement has cautioned the motive could beryllium much analyzable than pundits mightiness prefer, adjacent arsenic Boelter's ain disjointed writings suggest helium was hell-bent connected targeting Democrats.

Boelter has been charged with national execution and stalking, on with authorities counts, in the fatal shootings of erstwhile Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark. He is besides accused of wounding Democratic Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette.

At the clip of the shootings, Carlson said Boelter had been struggling to find enactment and was “disappointed” helium wasn’t proceeding backmost from people.

In February, Boelter abruptly discontinue his occupation delivering bodies from assisted surviving facilities to a ceremonial location and returned for respective weeks to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, wherever helium had founded respective companies focused connected farming and fishing.

“I thought it was a mistake for him to discontinue his job,” Carlson said. “I didn’t deliberation helium was going to get anyplace with the Congo.”

But the beingness alteration was successful keeping with Boelter’s impetuous “mentality to ever spell to the extreme,” Carlson said, recalling a clip successful the 1990s erstwhile Boelter was captured by information forces aft sneaking into Gaza to preach Christianity connected a travel to Israel. “That’s however brainsick Vance is,” Carlson said. “He wasn’t expected to beryllium there.”

Years earlier, aft becoming a Christian, Boelter “burned each of his belongings,” Carlson said, including karate and martial arts weapons and thing other that distracted from his religion.

Boelter graduated successful 1990 from an interdenominational Bible assemblage successful Dallas, earning a diploma successful applicable theology successful leadership. The Christ For The Nations Institute said successful a connection it was “aghast and horrified" to larn the fishy was among its alumni, saying “this is not who we are.”

The religion Boelter attended extracurricular Minneapolis has not responded to emails from AP but issued a akin connection condemning the shootings arsenic “the other of what Jesus taught his followers to do.”

Boelter, who worked arsenic a information contractor, offered a glimpse of his absorption to termination successful a 2023 sermon helium gave successful the Democratic Republic of the Congo, saying "they don’t cognize termination is incorrect successful galore churches.”

“He wasn’t a extremist cultist," Carlson said. “He was conscionable a regular Christian and benignant of outspoken.”

Boelter was unrestrained erstwhile it came to his distaste for Democrats, Carlson said, but that rhetoric ne'er seemed threatening. Carlson and different friend, Paul Schroeder, told AP they ne'er heard Boelter speech astir termination oregon immoderate of the officials who were targeted.

The FBI said Boelter “made lists containing the names and location addresses of galore Minnesota nationalist officials, mostly oregon each Democrats.”

“It wasn’t like, ‘We gotta halt them, man,’” Carlson said. “But it chills maine to deliberation helium was successful his country penning that worldly successful my house.”

Boelter would spell to a shooting scope occasionally but was not fanatical astir firearms, different friend, Paul Shroeder said.

“I thought helium was conscionable collecting them for self-defense," Carlson said. "It was 1,000 miles distant from stalking radical and sidesplitting them.”

Carlson said helium awoke Saturday to an alarming substance connection from Boelter, who warned helium was “going to beryllium gone for a while,” and “may beryllium dormant shortly.” Carlson initially thought his person was suicidal and went to cheque his room.

He said helium was truthful acrophobic helium called police, who “at archetypal didn’t look excessively interested" earlier rapidly connecting the messages to the shootings.

“Why propulsion your full beingness away? God, he’s truthful stupid," Carlson said. "He had everything.”

__ Associated Press writers Giovanna Dell'Orto successful Minneapolis and Michael Biesecker successful Washington contributed to this report.