Oak Creek Man Charged After Shooting At Mt. Pleasant Gas Station

MOUNT PLEASANT, WI — A man from Oak Creek is facing charges after police said he shot someone in a Mount Pleasant gas station parking lot in late November.

Gage Cortez, 24, is facing a charge of first-degree reckless injury and a charge of first-degree recklessly endangering safety after the shooting, online court records said. Police said they believe the incident, which left a man with two gunshot wounds, was related to road rage, according to a criminal complaint. Cortez turned himself into police after Dec. 2, the complaint said.

The shooting happened on Nov. 29 at the 943 Frontage Road Kwik Trip near Washington Avenue just off Interstate 94. Witnesses told police that two men had gotten into an argument which ended in the shooting, the complaint said.

Police found 15 bullet casings in the parking lot after the encounter, the complaint said. One of the bullets struck a car at a dealership and another was believed to hit a restaurant window, both located across a roadway from the Kwik Trip, according to police.

Police used video surveillance footage in part to piece together the events of that day. Footage showed two cars quickly pulling into the gas station lot right before the shooting, the complaint said.

Security footage showed the accused shooter arriving in a black SUV and the man who was shot arriving in a blue sedan, according to the complaint. Two men got out of the SUV after they parked but they paused as a man got out of the blue sedan across the lot, the complaint said.

After an apparent conversation between the parties the blue sedan's driver went back to their car, but then, one of the men from the SUV started shooting at him, according to the complaint.

Both vehicles then sped out of the lot, according to the complaint. Police later learned that the gunshot victim had arrived at a Kenosha hospital via taxi with gunshot wounds in each leg, the complaint said.

Police found the blue sedan outside the cab company that brought the man to the hospital, according to the complaint. By then, the blue sedan had bullet holes on its door and blood inside, police said.

Police said they tracked the SUV license plate to someone associated with Cortez and found that his driver's license photo strongly resembled the shooter in video surveillance.