VIEWER DISCRETION: A motorist in oncoming traffic witness the shooting of homicide suspect Zachary Hays on I-90/94 near DeForest, Wisconsin soon after he shot and killed Buffalo Grove mother of two Tracy Czaczowski (VIDEO CREDIT: Joel Graves).
Sauk County (Wisconsin) Sheriff’s Deputies responded about 3:00 p.m. Sunday to a drive-by shooting on I-90/94 near mile post 95 (near Lake Delton, Wisconsin). A suspect fired three times into a car attempting to pass the shooter’s Chevy Blazer. An initial investigation determined three rounds went into the victims’ car. Two bullets hit the car, but a second or third round hit the 44-year-old female passenger in the neck according to law enforcement. The shooting victim was Buffalo Grove mother of two, Tracy Czaczkowski. She was riding with her two children while her husband was driving. She was airlifted from the highway and transported to St. Clare Hospital in Baraboo, then transferred to UW Hospital where she is listed in very critical condition. The second round fired by the suspect entered the front passenger window and struck Tracy Czaczkowski in the neck.
Following the shooting, Columbia County sheriff’s deputies followed the suspect vehicle, and Dane County deputies attempted to stop the vehicle.
For nearly 20 miles, police say the suspect and his two brothers had sped down Wisconsin roads. Witnesses reported they were throwing out beer cans before police used road spikes to stop them. The alleged shooter was stopped on I-90/94 near Deforest, Wisconsin using the spike strips. He was shot by two Columbia County sheriff’s deputies after allegedly refusing to drop his gun. The suspect’s gunshot wounds are not believed to be life-threatening. Witnesses on the highway saw the suspect — with his gun and other hand waving — walk across the highway toward the police officers before he was shot.
ABC7 Chicago’s Rob Elgas and John Garcia report that the suspect may have been paranoid about the tinted windows on the sedan that was carrying passenger Tracy Czaczowski.
According the criminal complaint filed Wednesday afternoon, Zachary’s brother Jeremy told police Zachary was acting paranoid since smoking marijuana a couple days earlier and he driving with a .45-caliber handgun in his lap.
According to the complaint, “Zachary was ‘freaking out’ about the tinted windows on the sedan… Zachary slowed down to let the sedan catch up on the left side… Zachary then shot at the black sedan three times.”
— ABC 7 Chicago
Get updates from The Cardinal ALL NEWS FEEDS on Facebook. Just ‘LIKE’ the ‘Arlington Cardinal Page (become a fan of our page). The updates cover all posts and sub-category posts from The Cardinal — Arlingtoncardinal.com. You can also limit feeds to specific categories. See all of The Cardinal Facebook fan pages at Arlingtoncardinal.com/about/facebook …
Wisconsin I-90/94 shooting victim Tracy Czaczkowski (Facebook photo).
SHOOTER SHOT TREK …
I-90/94 homicide suspect Zachary Hays.