UNION GROVE, Wis. – After a daylong manhunt, authorities Monday captured a fugitive accused of abducting a woman from a southeastern Wisconsin hospital and fleeing in an exchange of gunfire.
Authorities tracked the suspect to the Village of Mount Pleasant outside Racine, where he was hiding in bushes, the Racine County sheriff's office said in a news release. The statement provided no additional details, but sheriff's Lt. Steve Sikora told The Associated Press that the suspect was injured and taken to a Racine hospital. Sikora did not know how the man was injured or how seriously.
Several schools in Racine County canceled classes Monday as authorities searched fields, barns and other locations for the man they say abducted a female employee at Lakeview Specialty Hospital and Rehab near Rochester about 3 p.m. Sunday.
Sheriff Christopher Schmaling said deputies had a description of the man's vehicle and it was spotted about an hour later at a Piggly Wiggly grocery store in nearby Union Grove.
As a squad car approached, the 20-year-old man fired several rounds, even with shoppers in the parking lot, Schmaling said. No one was shot.
"The suspect was located, he pulled a gun on my criminal investigator and shot at him," Schmaling said. "My investigator returned fire and the suspect fled."
As the man fled, he left the woman he had abducted in the parking lot. She was shaken, but unharmed, Schmaling said.
Officers from Racine, Caledonia, Mount Pleasant, Kenosha County and the Wisconsin State Patrol joined the manhunt in Union Grove, along with a helicopter from the police department in Winthrop Harbor, Illinois.
Union Grove High School and the elementary school, Raymond School District, Yorkville Elementary and Kansasville Elementary canceled classes Monday because of the manhunt.
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