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.

A manhunt is underway for the gunman who was impersonating a police officer and had a list of possible targets, officials said.

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.

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 Democratic Minnesota State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, are speaking out about their loss.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), appeared to blame the assassination of Smith’s friend, Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman, on the political left. Smith sought him out to chat.

Sophie and Colin Hortman are responding to the fatal shooting of their parents, Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and Mark Hortman.

State Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were gunned down at their home early on Saturday morning, but survived. Melissa Hortman - the top Democratic legislator in the state House - and her husband, Mark, were shot and killed. Yvette Hoffman said in a statement that she and her husband John were "devastated" by the Hortmans' deaths.