According to authorities, a Minnesota father who railed against President-elect Donald Trump online shot and killed his wife, ex-partner, and two sons before committing suicide.
The shooter, 46-year-old Anthony Nephew, had a “pattern of mental health issues,” Duluth Police Chief Mike Ceynowa said Friday, a day after authorities discovered five people dead inside two homes in the city.
Erin Abramson, 47, Anthony Nephew’s ex-partner, and their 15-year-old son Jacob Nephew were found dead in their home Thursday afternoon with what looked like gunshot wounds.
Tony Nephew was identified as a suspect, and his 45-year-old wife Kathryn Nephew and their 7-year-old son Oliver Nephew were found shot to death in a nearby family home.
Police said Anthony Nephew was also found dead inside the house with a gunshot wound to the head.
Tony Nephew had been sharing anti-Trump and left-wing posts on his Facebook page before he went on a rampage.
“Religion is a big part of the reason why my mental health and the world can no longer live together peacefully,” Anthony Nephew wrote in July.
“I am afraid that religious extremists will hurt me and my family with their wrong beliefs.” I keep having disturbing thoughts of being burned at the stake or put on a cross that is on fire.
“Having people actually think that my child or I am Satan, the antichrist, or this week’s favorite color of boogie man.”
He said that Republicans were “making it harder for women to leave” abusive relationships in another post.
“Gilead, here we come,” he wrote, referring to “The Handmaid’s Tale,” a dystopian book that has been turned into a Hulu series about women who have lost their rights and are forced to have children for the ruling class.
Anthony Nephew also shared political posts, such as a picture of Trump, Obama, Biden, and Harris. “Hate” is written under Trump’s picture, while “hope,” “heal,” and “grow” are written next to the Democratic politicians.
He wrote in July, “As an Independent voter, I would really like to see both the political parties in our country pick better candidates. Not that anyone cares, but I would.” “There is more to life than a choice between fascism and not fascism.”
In a scary warning about his own mental health problems, Anthony Nephew wrote in an opinion piece for the Duluth News Tribune in 2021, “For millions of Americans, a breakdown leads to suicide — or homicide before suicide.”
He wrote, “Mental health in this country is shamed, ignored, or seen as a burden that each person must carry alone, with little help and even less understanding.”
“Americans say they do not have problems with their mental health.” Because they have to, because someone told them to, or because they do not know their mind is broken.
Duluth is a city of about 90,000 people located about 135 miles north of Minneapolis. Police have not yet found a reason for the shootings.
Police said there is not a threat to the community right now.
