A former judge was killed in his Wisconsin home in a targeted attack, officials say

Published at 4:50 pm, June 4, 2022

Whitney Wild, CNN

(CNN) — A former Wisconsin judge was killed Friday in what authorities are calling a targeted attack by a suspect who also had other government officials as targets, a source familiar with the investigation told CNN.

Former Juneau County Circuit Court Judge John Roemer was killed in New Lisbon, Wisconsin, the source said. The killing stems from a court case or cases, the Wisconsin Justice Department explained.

The suspect, who has not been publicly identified, had other targets in mind — including Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the source told CNN. Another source corroborated the officials’ names to CNN.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s office said on Saturday that her name also appeared on the gunman’s list of targets.

“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.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel first reported the judge was the victim and that Evers had also been a target.

“This as I mentioned before does appear to be a targeted act and the individual who is a suspect appears to have had other targets as well. It appears to be related to the judicial system,” Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul said Friday in a news conference, stopping short of naming the victim.

Kaul added that investigators are not aware of any evidence that points to danger for other people, noting the probe is ongoing.

“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. “If we become aware of any specific ongoing threat, we will certainly notify people when we are aware of that.”

CNN has reached out to Gov. Evers’ office, McConnell’s office, the US Capitol Police, the Juneau County Sheriff’s Office and the Wisconsin Justice Department.

The attack appears to have begun Friday morning, when the Juneau County Special Tactics and Response Team entered a house and found a 68-year-old man dead in his home, the Wisconsin DOJ said in a statement.

There were attempts to negotiate with a person inside the home before the team entered. Authorities found a 56-year-old man in the basement with what seemed to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the state DOJ said.

“Law enforcement began life-saving measures, and the individual was transported to a medical facility. A firearm was recovered at the scene,” the statement said.

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