A gunman suspected of fatally shooting a retired county judge at a Wisconsin home had a lhit ist that included Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, the Associated Press reports. Douglas Uhde, 56, is suspected of killing retired Juneau County Judge John Roemer at Roemer's house on Friday, the Wisconsin Department of Justice said. Uhde was found in the basement of the home with a self-inflicted gunshot wound after attempts by police to negotiate with him. Uhde is hospitalized in critical condition. Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul said the shooting appeared to be a "targeted act" and that the gunman had selected people who were "part of the judicial system."
Investigators believe the gunman also may have planned to target other government officials and found a list in his vehicle with the names of several other prominent elected leaders. The other targets on the list, which mentioned Roemer, included Evers, McConnell and Whitmer. Uhde has an extensive criminal record dating back at least two decades, including a case when he was sentenced by Roemer to six years in prison on weapons charges. He was released from his last prison stint in April 2020. Roemer was found zip-tied to a chair in his home and had been fatally shot. Roemer, 68, was a "very loving, very encouraging man with a wonderful sense of humor who will be dearly missed" by the community, said Chip Wilke, pastor at St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Mauston, where Roemer was president of the congregation and evangelism chairman.