Former Wisconsin judge fatally shot in ‘targeted’ attack

Retired Wisconsin Judge John Roemer was shot and killed Friday in his home.

The Wisconsin Department of Justice said in a news release that the “incident appears to be a targeted act” and that it is investigating further.

A man identified as Douglas K. Uhde resisted attempts by police to negotiate after a person who had exited Roemer’s home called law enforcement to report that an armed man was present and two gunshots had been fired in the residence, according to the department.

Officers entered the house and found Uhde in the basement with a gunshot wound that the department said appeared to be self-inflicted.

Uhde is in critical condition and is being treated at a hospital after initial emergency measures taken by police, according to the Wisconsin Department of Justice.

Police recovered a firearm from the house, the department said.

Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul (D) said the suspect appeared to have had other targets in addition to Roemer, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

Sources told the outlet that those targets included Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D). CNN reported, citing sources familiar with the investigation, that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was also one of the suspect’s targets, and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s (D) office confirmed to the network that she was among them as well.

“Yesterday our office was notified by law enforcement officials that Governor Whitmer’s name appeared on the Wisconsin gunman’s list. While the news reports are deeply troubling, we will not comment further on an ongoing criminal investigation,” Whitmer’s office said, according to CNN.

This follows a string of high-profile shootings in recent weeks, including massacres in Buffalo, N.Y., and Uvalde, Texas.

An 18-year-old gunman killed 19 children and two adults last week at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde after shooting his grandmother and taking her car.

Ten days before that attack, another shooter killed 10 at a Buffalo supermarket in a racially motivated attack.

The shootings have motivated a renewed push for gun control measures among Democratic lawmakers, while Republicans have focused on issues such as school security and mental health.