By Canadian Press

Sheriff: Man kills one at gas station; slain in shootout

Jul 13, 2021 | 12:08 PM

FRANKSVILLE, Wis. (AP) — Authorities in Wisconsin say a man shot and killed another man at a gas station Tuesday and fired at another motorist before fleeing and eventually dying in a shootout with an undercover investigator.

Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling said events unfolded starting about 7:30 a.m. at the Pilot Travel Center in the village of Caledonia. Schmaling said a 32-year-old white man approached and “viciously executed” a 22-year-old white man putting gas in his car.

Schmaling said the gunman then shot at another person driving through the Pilot parking lot — that person was unhurt — and then drove away. The sheriff said the man then approached a person who was filling up his car at a Mobil station about 2 miles away.

That man happened to be an undercover investigator for the sheriff’s office, in an unmarked car, Schmaling said. He said the two exchanged gunfire, with the suspect struck multiple times and killed.

Schmaling said the investigator was also hit and was taken to a Racine hospital, where he was conscious and alert.

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The sheriff gave no indication as to what prompted the initial shooting.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

FRANKSVILLE, Wis. (AP) — Authorities in Wisconsin responded Tuesday morning to an apparent shooting at a gas station, with one witness describing a “sea of people” fleeing the store.

Police were investigating at the Pilot Travel Center in Franksville, a small town off Interstate 94 about 22 miles (35 kilometers) south of Milwaukee. They released few details except to say there was no threat to the community and that they were also investigating at a second gas station, a Mobil, about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) away.

A WISN-TV reporter tweeted that she saw a person lying on the ground near the station’s gas pumps, and a white sheet later covered the person.

A trucker who declined to give her name, citing fears for her safety, said she had just pulled into the Pilot to fuel up when a man ran out of the store. She said she then saw a truck ahead of her back up and make a U-turn to leave.

“Then, everybody starts running out of the Pilot, it’s truckers just running, sea of people, this one guy is yelling, ‘Run! Run,’ and I’m like, ‘Oh my God,’” the woman said. She said she asked one of the people what was going on.

“He said that somebody’s in there shooting,” the woman said. She said she did not witness any shooting or see anyone hurt.

In a statement, Pilot Co. spokeswoman Stephanie Myers said it’s “an open investigation, we are cooperating fully with local authorities.” The statement went on to say that the “safety and well-being” of the company’s’ employees and customers “is always our main concern.”

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Associated Press writers Gretchen Ehlke in Milwaukee, Doug Glass in Minneapolis and Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, contributed to this report.

Carrie Antlfinger, The Associated Press