On November 7, 2024, 43-year-old Anthony "Tony" Nephew killed four of his relatives in two houses in Duluth, Minnesota. He first fatally shot his ex-girlfriend and their son in Cody, then killed his wife and their son at their Denfeld home before fatally shooting himself.
The shooting had undertones regarding Nephew's discontent with Donald Trump winning the 2024 United States presidential election; Nephew had threatened to kill his relatives during the previous summer if Trump were to win. Other issues regarding Nephew and his family and his mental health issues had been reported in the past few years, or mentioned by those who knew the Nephew family.
Police had been called to Nephew's house in February 2021 as he was experiencing a mental breakdown. Nephew told officers that he had been having paranoid thoughts for the past month and agreed to seek treatment.[1]
On July 3, 2024, Nephew had threatened to stab his wife and kill himself, prompting her to call police. During the police's visit, Nephew indicated that he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, told them that the Russians had control of his mind since he was six years old, and requested that the officer return and kill him and his family if Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election.[2] This incident resulted in Nephew being hospitalized. In spite of this incident, Nephew applied for and received a gun permit on September 9.[1][3]
Prior to the shootings, Nephew had posted left-wing and anti-Trump views on Facebook, writing in July: "My mental health and the world can no longer peacefully coexist, and a lot of the reason is religion." That same month, Nephew wrote: "Not that anyone cares, but as an Independent voter, I would really like to see both the political parties in our country pick better candidates. We can do better than a binary choice between fascism and not fascism." In another post, Nephew stated "Gilead here we come", referencing The Handmaid's Tale, a novel and television series in which women have been striped of their rights and are forced to reproduce for the ruling class. One of Nephew's last posts criticized the Minnesota Star Tribune for declining to make an endorsement in the 2024 presidential race.[4]
In a March 2021 op-ed for the Duluth News Tribune, Nephew wrote: "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." Nephew also stated in the op-ed: "For millions of Americans, a breakdown leads to suicide — or homicide before suicide."[5][6]
Shootings
On November 7, 2024, two days after Trump's victory in the 2024 election, Nephew went to the home of his ex-girlfriend, 47-year-old Erin Abramson, in the Cody neighborhood, where he fatally shot her and their son, 15-year-old Jacob Nephew. He then returned to his home in the Denfeld neighborhood, where he fatally shot his wife, 45-year-old Kathryn Nephew, and their 7-year-old son, Oliver. Nephew then died via suicide by gunshot.[7][8][9] Officers later found the bodies of Nephew and his victims while responding to a welfare check requested by a co-worker of Abramson after she failed to show up to work.[10][11]
Aftermath
Although a motive has not been established, the Duluth chief of police noted Nephew's "pattern of mental health issues".[7][8][11] During a press conference held the day after the shootings, the chief stated: "I want to extend our heartfelt condolences to the family, friends and victims who were involved in this tragedy yesterday. We also want to send our condolences to both the Duluth community and Superior community as this is a senseless and tragic event."[12]
A GoFundMefundraiser for Abramson and her teenage son had raised more than $2,000 as of November 12, 2024.[13] On November 13, around 500 people gathered for a candlelight vigil, walking nearly a mile between the houses the victims were killed in.[3]
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