Wausau park shooting case postponed while defendant waits for attorney

WAUSAU − A court appearance for a 24-year-old Schofield man charged in connection with a shooting Oct. 3 was postponed Monday while he finds an attorney.

Todd E. Tucker faces charges of attempted first-degree intentional homicide, possession of a firearm by a felony, three counts of felony bail jumping, one count of pointing a firearm at another person and misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct and obstructing an officer.

Tucker, who is being held on a $500,000 cash bail that Marathon County Circuit Judge Gregory Huber set Oct. 3, did not have an attorney for a preliminary hearing scheduled for Monday. A preliminary hearing is when the prosecutor must show there is enough evidence to show the crime probably happened and the defendant probably committed it.

Tucker told Marathon County Court Commissioner Douglas Bauman he wanted to be represented by an attorney. Bauman found there was a reason to postpone the preliminary hearing. The case will be reviewed to determine whether Tucker has an attorney on Oct. 25.

According to the criminal complaint, at 9:16 p.m. Oct. 3, a woman called 911 and reported Tucker, wearing all black, had pointed a gun at her while she was at Marathon County Park. The woman fled the park in her car, with a group of people, including Tucker, chasing after her, according to the complaint.

Officers found the woman parked near the intersection of Sherman Street and South Seventh Avenue. The woman said she had been selling some things, including a dog's leash, on Facebook Marketplace. A woman she was familiar with wanted to purchase the items and arranged to meet her at Marathon County Park, according to the complaint.

The victim said she went to the park and the woman she knew showed up with two other women the victim was familiar with and two men, including Tucker, according to the complaint. The victim said she was nervous about the situation and stayed in her car. The group started ordering her out of the car and one woman in the group began pounding on her driver's side window, according to the complaint.

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The victim said she asked the group, "What's up?" and one of the women in the group said they would show the victim what was up and that she was going to "get beat," according to the complaint.

The victim said she took out pepper spray and sprayed it out her window. One of the women then sprayed pepper spray into the car, but the victim was able to get the window closed before much got in, according to the complaint.

The woman said Tucker then said, "Watch out" and "You better watch yourself," according to the complaint. Tucker took a pistol out and pointed it at the victim's head, according to the complaint.

The victim said she called 911 on her cellphone and began driving away, but the group chased her, according to the complaint. She said she heard six to eight shots. The victim said she didn't know how she had gotten to Sherman Street. She said she had taken a lot of right turns in order to lose the group.

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Officers found what appeared to be the graze of a bullet on the passenger-side front door and a punctured tire, according to the complaint. They also found nine shell casings in the area where the victim said the shots were fired.

Officers searched the area and saw Tucker, who was dressed all in black like the victim had described, come out of a house, according to the complaint, and he was sweaty. An officer searched him but didn't find a gun. The officers saw three women and another man come out of the same house, according to the complaint.

Police arrested Tucker, who denied knowing anything about the shooting, according to the complaint.

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Contact Karen Madden at 715-345-2245 or kmadden@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @KMadden715, Instagram @kmadden715 or Facebook at www.facebook.com/karen.madden.33.

This article originally appeared on Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune: Wausau park shooting case postponed while defendant waits for attorney