Highway Shooter Not Guilty by Mental Defect in Fatal Shooting of Buffalo Grove Mom

BUFFALO GROVE, IL - A 21-year-old Wisconsin man admitted Monday to fatally shooting a Buffalo Grove mom on a Wisconsin interstate in May 2016, the Daily Herald reports. A judge found Zachary Hays was not guilty due to mental defect and ordered him to spend 40 years in a state institution for killing Tracy Czaczkowski. Hays, of West Allis, Wis., opened fire on the Czaczkowski's SUV as the family of four was headed back from a vacation in the Wisconsin Dells.

Greg Czaczkowski told the court Monday how Hays' actions has devastated him and his two young children, according to the Daily Herald .

"My children lost their mother in the most horrible way, and all while they watched," Greg Czaczkowski said. "I relive that moment 10 times a day, every day. I have a hole in my heart that will never heal. I will never forget your face -- ever -- and what you did to our family."

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Hays suffered from schizophrenia and four doctors ruled he was mentally unstable in the months leading up to the shooting in May 2016, according to WISC-TV. The doctors determined Hays believed groups, including the FBI, were following him and would drive cars with tinted windows. This lead him to open fire on the Czaczkowski' SUV, which also had tinted windows.

The shooting occurred on I-90/I-94 near Lake Delton on May 1, 2016 when Greg, who was driving, tried to pass Hays' Chevy Blazer. Hays fired three shots at the family's vehicle, according to police, and fired shots at other vehicles, too. One shot hit the passenger side door of their BMW sedan. Another hit the hood. And a devastating shot hit Tracy in the neck as her family watched. Her husband tried to render medical aid to her as they waited for paramedics, police said Monday.

Tracy Czaczkowski was taken to UW Hospital in Madison where she later died as a result of a gunshot injury.

Czaczkowski’s husband and young children, who were also in the car, were not injured. The children are students at St. Mary School in Buffalo Grove, according to the Buffalo Grove Countryside.

"All we can say right now is that the entire St. Mary's Parish and community is praying for Tracy Czaczkowski and her family, and the family has asked for privacy," a spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Chicago told the Buffalo Grove Countryside following the shooting.

Following the interstate shooting, several police agencies engaged in a high-speed chase in pursuit of Hays, whose SUV was stopped when he drove over road spikes. He got out of his vehicle, refused to drop his gun and was shot by Columbia County sheriff's deputies.

Hays also faces a first-degree reckless homicide charge for a homicide that took place earlier in the day about 90 miles away in West Allis. Police believe he killed his neighbor Gabriel Sanchez, 42, according to the Daily Herald. He is set to go to trial in that case on July 5.

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