Neighbours of murdered US politician stunned by 'politically motivated' attack

The calm of an affluent cul-de-sac, north of Minneapolis, has been shattered.

Yellow tape, establishing a police cordon, now marks it as the scene of a double murder. Former state speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark were gunned down in their own home in the early hours of Saturday.

The gardens in this street are immaculately manicured but John Sampson is tending his again, a distraction tactic perhaps. He knew the murdered couple well.

His daughter was their babysitter. "Very kind, very neighbourly, very intelligent," he recalls.

Of Ms Hortman, he said: "She would know other people that were on the other side of the aisle, but it didn't matter to her. "Politics was never brought into the neighbourhood." Other neighbours remained behind closed doors, where they had initially been ordered to shelter following two gun attacks.

Long-standing state senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette had been shot and wounded in their home. Police officers sent to check on his Democratic colleague, Melissa Hortman, were too late.

They encountered a man disguised as a police officer leaving her home and exchanged fire with him, but he escaped, sparking a manhunt. Minnesota governor Tim Walz, who ran for vice president last year, described the murders as "politically motivated".

That's something the residents of this suburban network of streets find hard to comprehend. "Nationally and stuff, things are very volatile in the political scene and I just pray that it's not here," John Sampson told me.

"I hoped it would never come anywhere near here, that anyone has to go through this type of tragedy." "I feel very sad for the children and for the family left behind," he added. Read more from Sky News:Trooping the Colour - see best picsIs Ibiza at breaking point? Ms Hortman was a Democrat but voted with Republicans last Thursday to get a budget bill through.

The compromise was painful for her - withholding free healthcare from undocumented migrants. Speaking afterwards, she tearfully explained: "I know that people will be hurt by that vote, and we worked very hard to get a budget deal that wouldn't include that provision." Whatever the motivation for the murders of the politician and her husband, two children have lost both their parents.

And gun violence has claimed more lives in a deeply polarised America..