The attacks on two Democratic Minnesota state lawmakers at home are the latest in a grim spike in political violence.

The Utah Republican downplayed and joked about what authorities say were politically motivated shootings over the weekend of Minnesota Democratic lawmakers.

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

Washington Congressman Adam Smith spoke about rising political violence after a man fatally shot a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband.

In an essay in The New York Times on Monday, Robert Pape, a professor of political science at the University of Chicago, who has researched political violence for the past 30 years, wrote that "acts of political violence in the United States have been occurring at an alarming rate."

Daylight was still two hours off when Brooklyn Park police approached the home of former Minnesota Speaker Melissa Hortman to find someone had beat them there.

One of the debilitating aspects of any violence is how final and definitive it is and how anemic any response to it feels. Capturing and trying the alleged culprit are necessary next steps but nothing unwinds what was done.

U.S. Capitol Police increased security for Klobuchar and Smith following the attacks, which occurred early Saturday morning. Minnesota's entire congressional delegation, both Republicans and Democrats, released a joint statement condemning the killings.