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Minnesota state representative Melissa Hortman and her husband were shot dead on Saturday morning in what state governor Tim Walz described as a “politically motivated assassination”.

Hortman, a Democrat, and her husband were shot at their home early on Saturday morning. Police are still searching for the suspect, who escaped following a shootout with officers.

“My good friend and colleague Melissa and her husband Mark were shot and killed this morning in what appears to be a politically motivated assassination,” said Tim Walz, the state’s governor. He described Hortman as “a formidable public servant, a fixture and a giant in Minnesota”.

Democrat state senator John Hoffman and his wife were also shot in a separate incident; Waltz said they were recovering in hospital.

“We are cautiously optimistic they will survive this assassination attempt,” he said, which he described as “an act of political violence”.

This is a developing story