STURTEVANT, Wis. - Gage Cortez of Oak Creek pleaded guilty on Monday, April 22 to first-degree recklessly endangering safety in connection with a Sturtevant road rage shooting in November 2022.
A second charge of first-degree reckless injury was dismissed and read into the court record for the purposes of sentencing.
Cortez is scheduled to be sentenced on July 1.
Case details
The crime happened Nov. 29 at the store on E. Frontage.
A criminal complaint says 15 casings were found at the scene of the shooting. A vehicle at the nearby Racine Toyota dealership was hit, and a crack was found in the window of a nearby Burger King restaurant, possibly caused by a bullet strike.
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A witness told investigators two men were arguing when one started shooting, describing the shooter's vehicle as a black SUV.
Police learned a gunshot victim had been dropped off at the hospital in a taxicab with gunshot wounds to both legs.
According to prosecutors, the shooting was captured by surveillance cameras and showed the black SUV and the victim's blue sedan. That sedan was later found outside the taxicab company with bullet holes and blood inside.
From the surveillance video, police were able to learn the identity of the person to whom the black SUV was registered, and it was noted that his license photo "looked like the shooter" in the video.
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Cortez turned himself in on Dec. 2, 2022, the complaint says.