Illinois Mom in 'Critical Condition' After Random Highway Shooting

A suburban Chicago mom — wounded in a random drive-by shooting while on her way home from a Wisconsin Dells vacation — remains in critical condition.

The 44-year-old woman, her two children and husband were in a car that tried to pass the shooter's Chevy Blazer on I-90/I-94 on Sunday. The man in the Blazer fired three shots at the family's vehicle, according to police, and fired shots at other vehicles, too.

One shot hit the passenger side door of their BMW sedan. Another hit the hood. And a devastating shot hit the woman in the neck as her family watched. Her husband tried to render medical aid to her as they waited for paramedics, police said Monday.

"All of our thoughts and prayers are with this family who are traveling back to their home state after enjoying our beautiful surroundings here in Wisconsin," Dane County Sheriff David Mahoney said at a Monday press conference. "As this victim struggles and that family struggles, our thoughts and prayers are with them."

The family is reportedly from suburban Chicago. Police are not identifying the family or their hometown.

Witnesses told KTTC.com on Sunday the driver of the Blazer also was tossing beer cans onto the highway when he opened fire. At least one other car was struck, driven by a woman from Florida. The highway was packed with motorists traveling home from the Dells.

Gjuana Hewitt, who was driving through Wisconsin on vacation from Florida, says her car was shot during the incident. She was trying to pass the swerving SUV, but the driver swerved to nearly run her off the road.

"We were directly behind him at this point. He starts chucking beers out the window at us and then I put my head down to take down his license plate and he started shooting," Hewitt tells 27 News.

The shooting took place near Lake Delton in Sauk County at about 3 p.m. Sunday. Mahoney said her condition is "very critical." She was airlifted to a hospital in Baraboo and then transferred to UW Hospital, where she remains.

Several police agencies engaged in a high-speed chase in pursuit of the shooter, whose SUV was stopped when he drove over road spikes. He emerged from his vehicle, refused to drop his gun, and was shot by Columbia County sheriff's deputies. The West Allis, WI, man is 20 years old and is being treated at a hospital.

He's a suspect in a homicide that took place earlier in the day about 90 miles away in West Allis. Police believe the highway shooter killed Gabriel Sanchez, 42, and then went to a church in West Allis where he made several threats.

The police began looking for this man around 7 a.m. when they responded to reports of someone trying to forcibly enter a home in West Allis. There, officers found Sanchez dead. The suspect then went to a church, Epikos Church in Milwaukee, according to police, and threatened another church member before fleeing.

Hours later, the shooting on I-90/I-94 and the high-speed chase began. The chase covered about 15 miles and ended after 12 minutes, police said at a Monday afternoon press conference.

After the shooter was taken down, a medical helicopter was brought in to take him to a hospital. Two other men, ages 30 and 34, were taken into custody, according to the Wisconsin Department of Justice. Those men, the suspect's brothers, were also in the car and involved in the drive-by shooting, police said on Monday.

One was booked on a charge of being a felon with a gun and the other charged with expelling bodily fluids on a police officer, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

The highway was closed for several hours Sunday evening.

Breaking: apartment door marked by West Allis police tape; deadly shooting took place here this morning @fox6now pic.twitter.com/iOZY27XzfQ

— Bret Lemoine (@BretLemoine) May 1, 2016