A US man shot his wife and son as well as his ex-partner and their son before turning the gun to himself. The shooter, Anthony Nephew, 46, from Duluth, Minnesota often ranted against President-elect Donald Trump online, and had a “pattern of mental health issues,” Duluth Police Chief Mike Ceynowa said on Friday.
According to the Associated Press (AP) report, officers were called home just after 2 pm on Thursday. They found Nephew’s ex-partner Erin Abramson, 47, and Jacob Nephew, 15, dead from apparent gunshot wounds.
After they identified Anthony Nephew as the suspect, they surrounded his home. But when they entered the house officers found the bodies of Anthony, his wife 45-year-old Kathryn Nephew, and their 7-year-old son, Oliver Nephew. Police said Anthony Nephew apparently shot himself, reported AP.
Meanwhile, before his rampage Nephew had been posting left-wing and anti-Trump posts on his Facebook account, according to a report by the New York Post.
In July, he wrote, “My mental health and the world can no longer peacefully coexist, and a lot of the reason is religion. I am terrified of religious zealots inflicting their misguided beliefs on me and my family. I have intrusive thoughts of being burned at the stake as a witch, or crucified on a burning cross. Having people actually believe that I or my child are Satan or, the anti-Christ or whatever their favorite color of boogie man they are afraid are this week.”
In a separate post, he accused Republicans of “making it harder for women to leave” abusive relationships, according to the New York Post.
Other political posts included an image of former president Barack Obama, Trump, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. The word “hate” sits under Trump’s face, while the words “hope,” “heal” and “grow” correspond with the Democratic politicians.
In another post from July, he had criticised candidates chosen for the election. “We can do better than a binary choice between fascism and not fascism.”
Anthony Nephew previously even issued a chilling warning about his mental health battles, writing in an op-ed in the local Duluth News Tribune in 2021, “For millions of Americans, a breakdown leads to suicide — or homicide before suicide.”
In an op-ed in the local Duluth News Tribune in 2021, Nephew had written about his mental health battles. He wrote, “For millions of Americans, a breakdown leads to suicide — or homicide before suicide. Mental health in this country is stigmatized, ignored, or treated as a burden for the individual to bear alone, with little help and less understanding,” he wrote.