Steve Benton updates details from the scene of a shooting on North Academy Street in Janesville.
Kyle Hicke
JANESVILLE — Police and sheriff's deputies chased a suspect from Janesville to Beloit and back to Janesville this morning after a shooting in Janesville's Fourth Ward neighborhood just south of downtown.
A man is in custody, and a woman victim was taken to Janesville's Mercy Hospital.
The incident started shortly after 9 a.m. in the 400 block of South Academy Street, according to information relayed to officers by dispatchers.
One neighbor, Cory Musil, heard two gunshots.
"It was loud, 'boom boom.' It sounded like a 9 millimeter," Musil said, referring to a handgun.
Another person in the neighborhood indicated that more shots might have been fired.
The suspect drove a blue pickup truck to Beloit at speeds reaching 90 mph, according to reports radioed by pursuing officers.
Officers attempted to stop the vehicle using stop sticks during the chase, which went south on Highway 51, looped through Beloit and back north into Janesville on Highway 51, according to dispatches.
One Janesville squad and one Rock County squad were involved in accidents during the pursuit.
By 9:25 a.m., the suspect was back at the location of the shooting being pursued by police. A Janesville Gazette reporter on the scene saw the truck circle the block at least twice, chased by six police cars.
The suspect raised his middle finger as he drove through the neighborhood.
Neighbor Sherry Musil shouted: "Holy cow, I'm thinking of moving. He might pull out a gun again."
Neighbors scattered, running into houses, across lawns or hiding behind trees as the truck went by.
The chase ended about 9:50 a.m. near the intersection of Madison and Washington streets, near Mercy Hospital, police radio communications indicated, and the suspect was taken into custody.
Police rammed the truck to take him into custody, Acting Police Chief Dave Moore said.
Moore said the suspect sustained minor injuries.
"That was a deadly-force situation, to ram that car. Our community was at risk," Moore said.
A woman was transported alive from the shooting scene on Academy Street with multiple gunshot wounds, Moore said.
Police said the shooting appears to be a result of a domestic dispute.
Radio reports indicated the suspect threw a firearm out of the truck while on his way back north. A weapon was reported found on Highway 51 near Mulrooney Moving & Storage.
Police had a house at 412 S. Academy Street taped off. Police promised to release a statement later today.
A family member of the victim, Amanda Hartin, said the victim is Erica Ostenson.
Hartin said the suspect is an ex-boyfriend of Ostenson's, Kyle Hicke.
Online court records list Kyle E. Hicke, 37, with a 2008 address of 108 Forest Lake Drive, Milton.
Amanda Helling, a friend of the victim, said Ostenson is 25 years old.
Helling said the couple broke up about a week ago, and he had been sending her threatening text messages.
A friend and former neighbor of the victim, who did not give his name, said the woman who was shot was in her early 20s. He said the ex-boyfriend came to get her back, she said no, and he shot her.
Hartin said the ex-boyfriend shot Ostenson in front of her 5-year-old son.
