A gunman suspected of shooting a deadly retired district judge at a Wisconsin home had a list that included Michigan Gov. Gothen Whitmer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Wisconsin Governor Tony and Everitt. on Saturday.
Douglas K. Ude, 56, who is not charged, is suspected in the murder of retired Juno County Judge John Roemer at Roemer’s house in New Lisbon on Friday, the Wisconsin Department of Justice said in a press release Saturday.
Uhde was found in the basement of the home with a self-inflicted gunshot wound after police tried to negotiate with him. Uhde is hospitalized in critical condition, DOJ officials said.
Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Cole said Friday that the shooting appears to be a “targeted action” and that the shooter has selected people who are “part of the judiciary.”
But investigators believe the shooter may have planned to target other government officials and found a list in his car that included the names of several other prominent elected leaders, a law enforcement official said. Other targets on the list that mention Roemer include Evers, McConnell and Whitmer, the official said.
Roemer was found tied to a chair in his home and was fatally shot, the officer said. The officer was unable to publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke to the Associated Press, provided he remained anonymous.
Uchde has an extensive criminal and prison record of at least two decades, including a case in which he was sentenced by Roemer to six years in prison on arms charges. He was released from his last prison in April 2020.
Zack Paul, Whitmer’s deputy chief of staff, said her office had been informed that her name had appeared “on the Wisconsin shooter’s list.”
“Governor Whitmer has repeatedly demonstrated that she is tough and will not be harassed or intimidated into doing her job and working across the aisle to get things done for the people of Michigan,” Paul said.
Whitmer has been the subject of protests and criticism after accusing former President Donald Trump of inciting anger over COVID-19 restrictions and refusing to condemn right-wing extremists.
A trial earlier this year in which four men accused of plotting to kidnap a Michigan Democrat led to the acquittal of two of the men. The jury could not reach a unanimous verdict for the other two.
Roemer, 68, was “a very loving, very encouraging man with a wonderful sense of humor that will be sorely lacking,” said Chip Wilk, pastor at St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Mauston, where Roemer was president of the congregation. and evangelization. “He was in my office a few mornings a week.”
Wilke said that after he was informed of Roemer’s death on Friday, the pastor’s thought was “I’m glad we have Jesus and we know where he is.”
Roemer retired from the bench in 2017. He was first elected in 2004 and re-elected in 2010 and 2016. Prior to that, he served as Assistant District Attorney for Juneau County and Assistant Public Defender. He also worked in private practice and served as a lieutenant colonel in the US Army Reserve.
Investigators said there was no immediate danger to society.
“The information gathered shows that this is a purposeful action and that the referral is based on some kind of lawsuit or lawsuits,” Kaul said.
The Juneau County Sheriff received a call that two shots had been fired at a home in New Lisbon at 6:30 a.m. Friday, according to the Criminal Investigation Department. The caller ran away from home and called from another nearby house.
A neighbor, Donna Voss, told the Associated Press that she had heard police tell the man to surrender and leave the house.
For Voss, the shooting came as a shock in a normally quiet neighborhood, where houses are located next to farmland and wooded plots, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) northwest of Madison.
“It’s amazing and really weird,” she said.
New Lisbon, with a population of about 2,500, is located in Juneau County in central Wisconsin.
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Cap reported from Fargo, North Dakota. Balsamo reported from Washington, DC
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