The alleged gunman accused of shooting five people at a Portland park ahead of a protest had become increasingly “radicalized” against liberal policies, a former roommate said.

Benjamin J. Smith, 43, was identified Tuesday as the suspect who fatally shot one woman and injured four others three days earlier at a planned protest over the police-involved shooting death of Amir Locke.

“He talked about wanting to do this for a while. He was angry at the mask mandates, he was angry at the damned liberals,” his roommate, Kristine Christenson, told Oregon Public Broadcasting.

Smith’s roommate said she hadn’t felt safe living with him for some time.

“When I first moved in, he seemed fine,” Christenson said, adding Smith initially let her stay with him for free. “He was actually not that bad of a guy.”

But Smith grew angrier during the latter years of the Obama administration, and his behavior then took a turn for the worse during the pandemic, she said.

“As the years went on, he’s just gotten more and more radicalized,” Christenson told the outlet. “He got angrier and angrier … I did not feel safe with him, especially this last two years with the whole COVID thing. I think that made him even more angry.”

Smith would often rant about the presence of Black Lives Matter demonstrators and other protesters in Portland, his roommate and family told The Oregonian.

The avid gun collector displayed his weapons and sometimes threatened homeless people with them, the outlet reported.

Smith, who allegedly squeezed off shots with a .45-caliber handgun, was wounded in the lower abdomen and bowel by a man who returned fire with a rifle on Saturday.

The unidentified second shooter was initially arrested at the scene, but was later released after a witness turned over video footage, The Oregonian reported.

Authorities said that Smith remained hospitalized Tuesday in serious condition.

Police identified the woman killed in the shooting as 60-year-old Brandy Knightly. She was a volunteer with a traffic crew for the protest, The Oregonian reported.

Five other victims — three women and two men, including Smith — were also wounded by gunfire and were rushed to hospitals. The conditions of the other victims were immediately unclear Tuesday afternoon.

A preliminary investigation into the shooting revealed it was set off by a confrontation between an “armed homeowner and armed protesters,” Portland police said.

“The scene was extremely chaotic, and a number of witnesses were uncooperative with responding officers,” police said. “Most people on scene left without talking to police.”

Detectives believe a number of people at the protest recorded the shooting as it unfolded. Anyone with footage is being asked to contact Portland police at (503) 823-3774.