ATV driver found dead after elderly man hit while putting up Trump sign

After an 80-year-old man was struck by an ATV while putting up a Trump sign in his Michigan yard on Sunday, a 22-year-old called authorities and said he was involved in the incident, then committed suicide, officials said.

The elderly man was struck by an ATV rider at 5:45 p.m. in Hancock following previous incidents of vandalism that appeared to be directed at people expressing support for former President Donald Trump or against police, police there said.

On Monday, a 22-year-old man contacted Hancock police and said he wanted to “confess to a crime involving an ATV rider within the last 24 hours,” the Houghton County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

The man asked someone to come to his home in Quincy Township, the sheriff’s office said. Officers found him dead there; he had inflicted a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The ATV (also called an all-terrain vehicle) believed to be involved in the accident was also found, as were items of clothing believed to have been worn by the suspect, the office said.

The identity of the 22-year-old was not established by the authorities.

The condition of the victim hit by the off-road vehicle is critical, Hancock police said.

Police and sheriff’s office statements did not indicate what type of political sign the victim was holding when he was struck.

But Hancock police said there were three incidents – two of them involving vandalism of vehicles – that are believed to be related and were carried out by someone on an ATV and appear to have been directed at people expressing support for Trump or the police.

The sheriff’s office said the victims displayed Trump campaign signs or stickers and flags with the words “Thin Blue Line.”

The sheriff’s office and Hancock police said the case remains under investigation.

Hancock is a small city of about 5,000 residents in northwest Michigan on the state’s Upper Peninsula.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call the network formerly known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at: 800-273-8255Send an SMS with the text HOME to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.