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Wisconsin county judge was fatally shot at his home on Friday morning. - Officials say they found the
gunman with a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the judge's basement.
The suspect, who authorities say fatally shot a Wisconsin judge in his home had a hit list with several other lawmakers named, several outlets reported.
WISN reported that former Juneau County Judge John Roemer was found in his home Friday morning zip-tied to a chair and fatally shot.
Officials found a 56-year-old man, who is considered to be the suspect, in the basement of Roemer's New Lisbon home. They did not release the suspect's name, but said he had a self-inflicted gunshot wound and is now in critical condition.
Authorities said they found a hit-list that named other lawmakers, including Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, and US Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, WISN reported.
The Wisconsin Rapid Tribune reported that Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul said the shooting was "based on some sort of court case or court cases."
Roemer, 68, was first elected to the Juneau County Circuit Court in 2004 and reelected for two more terms before he resigned in 2017 to take care of his ailing wife. During his tenure, he'd presided over several high-profile cases, the Tribune reported.
Colleague Scott Southworth, who served as the county's district attorney from 2005-2013, described Roemer as a "brilliant legal scholar who devoted an incredible amount of time to doing the right thing."
"He was kind. He was passionate. He was empathetic," Southworth told the Tribune. "He cared deeply about doing the right thing on the bench."
The shooting is being investigated as both a homicide and a possible case of domestic terrorism, WISN reported.
The FBI and the DOJ's Office of Crime Victim Services also are assisting with the investigation.
The Wisconsin State Journal reported that the other targets were notified, but that there's no longer a public safety threat.