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22-year-old Elkhorn man killed during Pilot Travel Center shooting identified

Posted at 1:21 PM, Jul 14, 2021
and last updated 2021-07-14 18:41:36-04

The 22-year-old Elkhorn man who was shot and killed during an incident at a Pilot Travel Center in Racine County has been identified.

The Racine County Sheriff's Office identified the man as Anthony Griger.

Griger was putting gas into his vehicle just after 7:30 a.m. Tuesday when another man approached and "brutally executed" him.

After the suspect killed Griger, investigators say he shot at another person driving in the parking lot of the Pilot Travel Center. Luckily, that person was not hit. The suspect then took off, heading eastbound on Highway K. Sheriff Schmaling says the suspect made it about three miles, before going on another shooting spree at the Mobil gas station located at the corner of Highways H and K.

“The suspect had no idea, but there was an undercover investigator with 21 years of experience in the Racine Sheriff’s Office who was there, just beginning his shift and putting gas into his unmarked squad car,” Sheriff Schmaling said. “The suspect approached that investigator and began to shoot at him at a close distance. The investigator and suspect both exchanged gunfire. “

Both were hit by bullets. The suspect died from his injuries. The undercover officer was rushed to Ascension Racine and will survive. Sheriff Schmaling says he spoke to that officer hours after the shooting, and he was alert and conscious.

The investigator is now in the hospital recovering from multiple gunshot wounds, which fractured several bones in the area of his pelvis, the sheriff's office said Wednesday. The investigator’s injuries are non-life threatening.

Authorities also identified the suspect as John R. McCarthy, 32.

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