The Latest: DEA saddened by death of employee's wife
MADISON, Wis. (AP) - The Latest on an apparently random shooting along an interstate in Wisconsin that killed an Illinois woman (all times local):
4:35 p.m.
A spokesman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says the agency is saddened by the death of an employee's wife in an apparently random drive-by shooting on a Wisconsin interstate.
DEA spokesman Leo Hawkins says Tracy Czaczkowski was a loving wife and mother to two young children.
The Dane County Sheriff's Office says investigators believe 20-year-old Zachary Hays shot Czaczkowski on Sunday as she and her family drove along an interstate on their way home to Illinois. The 44-year-old dental hygienist later died.
Hays is also a suspect in a killing hours earlier in a Milwaukee suburb.
Investigators say they believe the attack on the Czaczkowskis' vehicle was random. They say they aren't aware of any markings on the car that identified her husband as a DEA employee.
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4 p.m.
Court records show that the suspect in an apparently random drive-by shooting that killed a woman in Wisconsin has a criminal record.
The Dane County Sheriff's Office says investigators believe 20-year-old Zachary Hays shot Tracy Czaczkowski on Sunday as she and her family drove along an interstate on their way home to Illinois. The 44-year-old mother later died.
Investigators also suspect Hays in the death of 42-year-old Gabriel Sanchez, who was killed hours earlier in West Allis, the Milwaukee suburb where Hays lived.
Court records show Hays was found guilty in 2013 of battery and receiving stolen property. He was sentenced to two years' probation for the battery charge, though no details about the case were immediately available Tuesday.
One of Hays' brothers, 30-year-old Jeremy Hays, is being held on tentative charges of possessing a firearm as a felon. Authorities say he was with Hays during the interstate shooting.
Another brother also was in the vehicle, but the sheriff's office says it's not releasing his name because of his "cognitive disability."
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3:05 p.m.
Authorities have identified a 20-year-old man suspected of shooting a woman in a random drive-by shooting along a Wisconsin interstate after killing a man in suburban Milwaukee.
The Dane County Sheriff's Office released a statement Tuesday saying Zachary Hays, of West Allis, Wisconsin, is the suspect in both incidents. No formal charges have been filed, and the sheriff's office says Hays remains hospitalized in Wisconsin.
Investigators believe Hays killed 42-year-old Gabriel Sanchez in West Allis on Sunday morning, and then hours later shot a woman when he opened fire on a family returning home to Illinois from Wisconsin. Authorities say 44-year-old Tracy Czaczkowski was shot in the neck during the apparently random drive-by shooting. Federal officials said Tuesday that she later died.
Police have said they stopped the suspect's vehicle and shot him when he emerged with a gun. He remains hospitalized at the University of Wisconsin Hospital.
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2:15 p.m.
Federal authorities say an Illinois woman has died after being shot during an apparently random drive-by shooting along a Wisconsin interstate while she was traveling with her husband and children.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration released a statement Tuesday saying 44-year-old Tracy Czaczkowski has died, two days after she was shot. Her husband works for the agency.
Authorities say the family was returning to Illinois on Sunday after spending the weekend in Wisconsin when they passed a Chevrolet Blazer whose driver opened fire on their BMW sedan, hitting Czaczkowski in the neck. Police stopped the Blazer with a spike strip and shot the driver after he emerged with a gun.
The suspect's condition is unknown. Investigators believe he'd killed 42-year-old Gabriel Sanchez in suburban Milwaukee hours before the interstate shooting.