Vandal accused of running over elderly Trump supporter with ATV found dead in Michigan
A Michigan man accused of running over an elderly Trump supporter with an ATV and vandalizing bumper stickers and signs has been found dead about 2 miles from where the assault took place.
The ATV incident occurred on Sunday around 5:45 p.m. in Hancock, a town on the Upper Peninsula, when an 80-year-old man was run over while putting a Trump sign in his yard. The suspect had allegedly ripped the sign out of the lawn and then ran the man down as he was putting the sign back up.
The elderly man was taken to the hospital and remains in critical condition with serious injuries, including brain bleeding, officials said.
The Houghton County Sheriff’s Office said the suspect is believed to have also been involved in vandalizing at least two cars in a parking lot that displayed Trump election signs or stickers supporting law enforcement.
On Monday, in an odd turn of events, a 22-year-old man reportedly contacted authorities and said he wanted to “confess a crime involving an ATV driver within the last 24 hours” and asked police to “send someone to pick me up.”
When sheriff’s deputies and police officers arrived at his home in Quincy Township — about 2 miles east of where the elderly man was hit — the suspect was already deceased from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The man’s identity has not been released and an autopsy will be performed to determine his exact cause of death.
Police also found the ATV used in the incident and clothes matching the suspect description at the dead man’s home.
Officials said Tuesday there was “no further threat to the public at this time” and there are no other suspects.
“People have the right to express their opinions,” Hancock Police Chief Tami Sleema told the Daily Mining Gazette on Tuesday. “There’s no place for this type of violence.”
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