World

Whitmer, McConnell, Evers on Wisconsin’s gun list: source

A gunman suspected of fatally shooting a retired district judge at a Wisconsin home has a list that includes Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers. Whitmer’s office and a law enforcement source said Saturday.

Douglas K. Uhde, 56, who has not been charged, is suspected of murdering retired Juneau County Judge John Roemer at the Roemer home in New Lisbon on Friday, the Wisconsin Department of Justice said in a statement. press release on Saturday.

Uhde was found in the basement of the house with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, after police attempted to negotiate with him. DOJ officials said Uhde was hospitalized in critical condition.

Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul on Friday said the shooting appeared to be a “targeted act” and that the gunman chose people “who are part of the justice system.”

But investigators believe the gunman may also have been planning to target other government officials and found a list in his car with the names of several other prominent elected leaders, a law enforcement officials said. Other targets on the list, which mentioned Roemer, included Evers, McConnell and Whitmer, the official said.

Roemer was found tied to a chair in his home and was shot dead, the official said. The official could not publicly discuss the details of the investigation and spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Uhde has multiple criminal records and at least two decades in prison, including one case when he was sentenced to six years in prison by Roemer on weapons charges. He was released from prison after his final prison term in April 2020.

Zach Pohl, Whitmer’s deputy chief of staff, said her office was notified that her name appeared “on the list of the Wisconsin gunman.”

“Governor Whitmer has proven time and time again that she is a tough person, and that she will not be bullied or intimidated into doing her job and working across the aisle to get it done,” Pohl said. jobs for the people of Michigan.

Whitmer became the object of protests and criticism after she blamed former President Donald Trump for inciting anger over COVID-19 restrictions and refusing to condemn right-wing extremists.

A trial held earlier this year in which four men were charged in an alleged kidnapping plot by Michigan Democrats resulted in two of them being acquitted. The jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict for the other two.

Chip Wilke, pastor at the Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Paul, Mauston, where Roemer was president of church president and evangelist. “He’s in my office a few weekday mornings.”

Wilke said after being informed of Roemer’s death Friday, the pastor’s thoughts were, “I’m so 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. Before that, he served as assistant Juneau district attorney and assistant public defender of state. He also practiced privately and served as a lieutenant colonel for the United States Army Reserve.

Investigators said there was no immediate danger to the public.

“The information gathered indicates that it was a targeted act and the targeting was based on some sort of case or trial,” Kaul said.

The Juneau County Sheriff’s Office received a call that two shots were fired at a New Lisbon home at 6:30 a.m. Friday, according to the Criminal Investigation Division. The caller fled the house and made a call from another house nearby.

Donna Voss, a neighbor, told the Associated Press she heard law enforcement over the loudspeaker telling the man to surrender and leave the house.

For Voss, the shooting came as a shock in a normally quiet neighborhood, where homes line farmland and dense forests, about 80 miles (130 km) northwest of Madison. .

“It was unbelievable and really bizarre,” she said.

New Lisbon, with a population of about 2,500, is in Juneau County in central Wisconsin.

——


Kolpack reports from Fargo, North Dakota. Balsamo reporting from Washington, DC

Source link

news7h

News7h: Update the world's latest breaking news online of the day, breaking news, politics, society today, international mainstream news .Updated news 24/7: Entertainment, Sports...at the World everyday world. Hot news, images, video clips that are updated quickly and reliably

Related Articles

Back to top button
Immediate Peak