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Warrant: Alleged interstate gunman had rifle, ammo magazines

By: Associated Press//June 7, 2016//

Warrant: Alleged interstate gunman had rifle, ammo magazines

By: Associated Press//June 7, 2016//

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MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A West Allis man accused of killing a woman during an interstate drive-by shooting last month opened fire on other cars as well and had extra ammunition and a rifle in his vehicle, according to newly unsealed court documents.

Sauk County prosecutors have charged 20-year-old Zachary Hays with killing Tracy Czaczkowski during the May 1 drive-by attack on Interstate 90-94 between Madison and Wisconsin Dells. Czaczkowsi, her husband and their two small children were returning to Illinois after a weekend in Wisconsin Dells when Hays allegedly fired at their BMW sedan.

Czaczkowski’s husband works for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, but investigators believe the drive-by was random and wasn’t connected to his job.

The Wisconsin State Journal reports (http://bit.ly/1X8HzbF ) that according to a search warrant unsealed Monday, Hays’ brother, 30-year-old Jeremy Hays, told detectives that he was a passenger in Hays’ Chevrolet Blazer during the incident. He said Zachary Hays was driving and “freaked out” when a black vehicle with tinted windows — the Czaczkowskis’ BMW — approached them.

He said he watched Zachary Hays fire a handgun at the vehicle while yelling “I’m not scared, I’m not scared! You want to die, you want to die!”

Zachary Hays cocked the hammer each time before he fired the pistol, the brother said. After he hit the Czaczkowskis’ car, he sped up to 90 mph and began firing at other cars on the interstate.

Police finally stopped the Blazer using a spike strip. They shot and wounded Zachary Hays when he emerged from the vehicle. Investigators have said he was holding a revolver.

Jeremy Hays said his brother asked for an SKS rifle after police had stopped them but he tossed the rifle in the back of the Blazer. The search warrant noted a detective saw an uncased long rifle in the Blazer’s cargo area.

The warrant said the vehicle also contained cartridges and magazines of ammunition for a handgun and a rifle as well as a stun gun, drug paraphernalia, a digital scale and $660 in cash.

Zachary Hays is scheduled to make an initial court appearance in Sauk County on Thursday. He faces one count of first-degree intentional homicide and three counts of reckless endangerment.

Hays’ attorney, listed in online court records as public defender Jon Helland, didn’t immediately return a voicemail message Tuesday.

Prosecutors in Milwaukee County also have charged Zachary Hays with one count of first-degree reckless homicide. They believe he shot his neighbor in their West Allis apartment building the morning of the drive-by.

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