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Mitch McConnell and Gretchen Whitmer have been found on a ‘hit list’ inside the car of a gunman who shot dead a retired judge in Wisconsin.
The Senate Minority Leader, Michigan Governor as well as Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers were on the note left by the 56-year-old shooter who blasted 68-year-old John Roemer to death.
The suspect has been named as career criminal Douglas K. Uhde.
Uhde has an extensive criminal and prison record dating back at least two decades, including a case when he was sentenced by Roemer to six years in prison on armed burglary charges. He was released from his last prison stint in April 2020.
Uhde burglary offense occurred in 2001. In 2002, Uhde was sentenced to 10 years in prison and seven years supervision by Judge James Miller. That was in addition to being forced to undergo psychiatric treatment.
However, Uhde won an appeal in the case over court procedures.
The case was reopened with Roemer at the helm in February 2005. Uhde was sentenced to six years in prison and nine years of extended supervision in April 2005.
This March 17, 2020, photo provided by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections shows Douglas K. Uhde, who is suspected in the shooting death of retired Juneau, Wis., County Judge John Roemer
In March 2006, Uhde escaped from the minimum security Fox Lake Correctional Institute in Wisconsin, he was apprehended a month later.
According to court documents, Uhde was rearrested while he was en route to give his girlfriend ‘a flower.’ While out on bail on his original charges, Uhde had been ordered to have no contact with his girlfriend.
Following his rearrest, Uhde was held at the maximum security Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage, Wisconsin. The same prison where serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer was beaten to death by inmates in 1994.
Uhde continued to fight his charges and argued that his right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures was violated at the time of his original arrest.
Despite the escape, Uhde was freed in 2007 and arrested again in March of that year for driving a vehicle without consent, eluding an officer and obstruction. He served 18 months in prison on those charges.
Uhde last spent time in prison between March 2019 and April 2020 when he was taken into custody on a parole violation. He also spent time in prison for a parole violation in 2015.
Uhde’s last known as address was in Friendship, Wisconsin, around 30 miles east of Roemer’s home in New Lisbon.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, Uhde’s status is listed as ‘Active community supervision.’
A family friend named Joshua told The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he is shocked at the news involving Uhde. Joshua said: ‘I’m still kind of expecting someone to say it wasn’t him.’
Joshua said that the last time her heard from Uhde, the suspect was moving to start over in either Kentucky or Tennessee.
Joshua went on to say that he did not know Uhde to be part of a militia nor to have any animosity toward public officials. He said: ‘The fact that I’m being told that he did this is gut-wrenching.’
Mitch McConnell and Gretchen Whitmer were reportedly on a shooter’s hit list, that was found inside his car at the scene of the shooting. The shooter killed a former Juneau County judge in his home on Friday morning
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers was also reportedly on the hit list
Former Juneau County Judge John Roemer, 68, was found zip-tied and shot dead in his home
Officers stormed the judge’s house around 10.15am on Friday where they found Uhde in a critical condition after shooting himself and Roemer zip-tied to a chair and dead.
‘This does appear to be a targeted act,’ Attorney General Josh Kaul said. The AG also said the politicians have been notified of the hit list.
‘Those who may have been other targets have been notified of that, but we are not aware of any active threat to individuals,’ he said at a press conference.
‘At this point, we are not aware of any evidence indicating that there is any active danger to other individuals.
‘If we become aware of any specific ongoing threat, we will certainly notify people when we are aware of that.’
Roemer is seen in court, before his 2017 retirement. On Friday he was murdered by a 56-year-old man
The case is being handled as a homicide and a domestic terrorist case and authorities are looking into court records.
Law enforcement believes the shooter’s outrage has to deal with a court case. Donna Voss, who lives next door, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel she was shocked.
‘One of my neighbors called and said what’s going on, what’s going on. It was really surprising something like this would happen around here. I still can’t comprehend it.’
A SWAT team was seen at the judge’s house. Authorities arrived on scene around 6.30am and were unable to breach the home until 10.15am as the shooter was inside the home
A large police presence and a SWAT team were on scene on Friday. When they got inside, they found the shooter in the basement with a reported self-inflicted gunshot wound. The shooter was taken to a medical facility in critical condition
Attorney General Josh Kaul said on Friday that a 68-year-old man had died and a second person was found inside the home with an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound. The second person remains in hospital, in a critical condition
She said she heard police telling the person inside: ‘Come out with your hands up.’ Voss added of Roemer: ‘He was such a nice guy. Church goer. It’s terrible.’
Jackie, a former teacher who lives nearby, said she knew Roemer through two of his children, who were students of hers.
‘He walks his dogs all the time,’ she said. ‘He’s friendly, a nice enough guy.’
Roemer served as a Juneau County judge from 2004 until 2017. He had previously spent 12 years as assistant district attorney, and had worked as an assistant state public defender in Baraboo, Wisconsin.
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