A 57-year-old man has been arrested in the US state of Minnesota on suspicion of killing a Democratic state lawmaker and her husband. The arrest on Sunday night was the culmination of a huge two-day manhunt following the deaths of Melissa Hortman, a Minnesota Democrat, and her husband Mark. State Governor Tim Walz called it a “politically motivated assassination”.

Police said Vance Luther Boelter was armed at the time of his arrest in a rural area west of Minneapolis, but surrendered peacefully when challenged. He is also alleged to have shot and wounded Democratic State Senator John Hoffman, and his wife Yvette, who are both now awake in hospital.

According to the BBC, Mrs Hoffman said on Sunday that both felt “incredibly lucky to be alive”, as they had been hit by 17 bullets between them.

She and her husband had been “gutted and devastated” by the Hortmans’ deaths, Mrs Hoffman added in her statement. “We have no words,” she wrote. “There is never a place for this kind of political hate.”

Mr Boelter faces two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree attempted murder. He is due to appear in court in Minneapolis at 13:30 local time (14:30 EDT; 18:30 GMT) on Monday.

The suspect is a former political appointee and was once a member of the same state workforce development board as John Hoffman. However it is unclear if they actually knew each other.

Police have not suggested what the alleged killer’s motive might have been, but state senator Amy Klobuchar has joined Governor Walz in suggesting the attacks were politically motivated.