Cameras caught his image of a person suspected of running over an 80-year-old man in his yard on Anthony Street in Hancock. (Courtesy of Hancock Police.)

HANCOCK — Police found a Quincy Township man dead in his home Monday, the day after he was suspected to have committed a string of politically motivated crimes in Hancock.

Hancock police had received a message from someone at the man’s Samson Street address wanting to “confess a crime involving an ATV driver within the last 24 hours” and also to “send someone to pick me up.” Police had circulated photos of the driver after several incidents Sunday, including vandalizing two cars and running over a 80-year-old man on Anthony Street.

The 80-year-old victim was hospitalized at UP Health – Portage and was reported to be in critical condition Monday. Hancock Police Chief Tami Sleeman was waiting on updated information Tuesday afternoon, but said the man had been talking with an officer.

When Hancock officers and deputies from the Houghton County Sheriff’s Office arrived at the suspect’s house, they found the 22-year-old man dead of what appeared to be a single self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Acting on a search warrant for the man’s home, deputies found several electronic devices, which will go to the Michigan State Police Crime Lab for analysis. Additional evidence included the four-wheeler used in the incident and the clothing the suspect had been seen wearing in security footage.

The Houghton County Sheriff’s Office and Hancock Police Department say there is no further threat to the public at this time, police said.

The investigation is ongoing. The devices will be looked at for further information to determine if the suspect was acting on his own.

“That’ll take a little bit of time to get any data that we potentially can glean off of those,” Houghton County Sheriff Josh Saaranen said. “Other than that, there was no indication of anybody else being involved.”

There was no record of the suspect having any prior police contact, Saaranen said.

The suspect’s name is being withheld until next of kin can be notified. More details will be released as the investigation continues, police said.

Police say the crimes appear to be politically motivated. The targets of the incidents had displayed election signs backing Donald Trump as well as appreciation stickers and “thin blue line” flags supporting law enforcement.

Both vehicles had tire valves broken off, draining all the air from the tires, Sleeman said. In one vehicle, the suspect had smashed the windshield and windows, torn apart the front grill, torn off the mirror and ripped out the lights.

Saaranen and Sleeman said at this time, the 22-year-old man did not appear to have any prior connection to his targets. The Hancock Police Department obtained video of the suspect apparently searching for cars meeting his criteria at a parking lot on Quincy Street.

“It appears that he’s looking at the back of vehicles, running around the parking lot, as though he’s looking for any type of political bumper sticker,” Sleeman said.

At the residence on Anthony Street, the suspect yelled obscenities at the 80-year-old man and knocked down his sign, Sleeman said. As the man tried to put his sign back up, the ATV driver turned around.

“The victim had his back turned to the four-wheeler, and then he proceeded to hit him from behind, go over him and leave,” she said. “Any reasonable person knows that running someone over like that, that’s a way you could kill somebody.”

Saaranen condemned the suspect’s acts, and called for people to remain civil.

“I don’t believe Houghton County is a place where anybody would condone any kind of political violence against any candidate, whether local or national, and just hope that we as a community can avoid this rhetoric through campaign season,” he said.

Sleeman agreed.

“People have the right to express their opinions,” she said. “There’s no place for this type of violence.”

The Houghton County Sheriff’s Office is working with and was assisted on scene by Hancock Police Department, Houghton Police Department, Houghton Police Department, Michigan State Police, Mercy EMS, Houghton County Medical Examiner’s Office and is also working with the FBI field office out of Marquette.