Melissa Hortman, a Minnesota lawmaker who was gunned down in what is described as a politically motivated attack, earned degrees at Boston University and Harvard.

He wounded Sen. John Hoffman and his wife but didn’t come into contact with the two other DFL legislators, investigators say.

Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan remembers her colleague state rep. Melissa Hortman who was assassinated at her home Saturday, reflecting on the lasting impact Hortman had on state affairs.

Minnesota State Rep. Melissa Hortman was more than just the state House’s top Democrat, according to those who knew her. She “was a bright shining light of a human being,” Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon,

Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband were shot and killed, and State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife were injured in what Gov. Tim Walz called "politically motivated" shootings.

The children of Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark Hortman are speaking out on their parents' murders. “They were the bright lights at the center of our lives, and we can’t believe they are gone," Sophie and Colin Hortman wrote in a statement obtained by PEOPLE Monday.

Vance Boelter, the man accused of shooting two Minnesota state legislators and their spouses, visited the homes of four lawmakers over the course of a few hours early Saturday. Federal prosecutors have charged Boelter,

Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, lost their life in a fatal shooting in their home in the northern Minneapolis suburbs.