CALEDONIA, Wis.—Authorities in Wisconsin have identified the man they say was lying in wait at a travel center before quietly walking up to a young man who was pumping gas and fatally shooting him.
John McCarthy, 32, of Hartland, was later killed after confronting an undercover sheriff’s investigator at another gas station not far away in Caledonia on Tuesday, Racine County sheriff’s officials said.
Officials on Wednesday identified the victim who was fatally shot by McCarthy at the Pilot Travel Center as Anthony Griger, 22, of Elkhorn. Griger was a 2017 graduate of Franklin High School who family and friends called “Nino.”
Sheriff Christopher Schmaling said the gunman “executed” Griger while the victim filled his vehicle with gas about 7:30 a.m.
“He sat there and waited for the right opportunity. And when he was pumping gas, he quietly walked up to him and shot him dead,” Schmaling told the Racine County Board on Tuesday night. Officials have not identified a motive for the shooting.
Family members posted on a GoFundMe page that Griger’s death was all too sudden.
“There are no words to express the anguish and shock that all of Nino’s family and friends are experiencing right now. We pray that he is at peace and in the loving arms of those who have gone before him,” a statement read.
Schmaling said McCarthy rummaged through Griger’s pockets before shooting at another person who was driving through the parking lot. That person was not injured.
McCarthy then drove to a Mobil station about 2 miles away, according to authorities. There, with a gun drawn, Schmaling said, McCarthy approached the undercover investigator who was pumping gas into his unmarked squad car.
The two exchanged gunfire. McCarthy was shot and killed. The investigator, whose name hasn’t been released, suffered multiple gunshot wounds that fractured several bones around his pelvis, the sheriff’s office said. He is recovering at a Racine hospital.
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