STRONGS PRAIRIE, Wis. — It was a quiet night in rural Adams County Tuesday when Don D’anza heard gunshots near his home.
“It was in the evening after supper time, maybe 6 o’clock or so, we heard a few gunshots, maybe four, and then a pause and maybe two more,” he recalled. “I didn’t think anything of it because here in the country, we hear that every now and then. And then I didn’t give it another thought until officers showed up around one in the morning and wanted to ask questions.”
Those officers were asking questions in the wake of a deadly shooting involving a man with a gun and an Adams County sheriff’s deputy. According to the Wisconsin Department of Justice, the deputy shot and killed the man after responding to a report of a person walking in the middle of the road.
Officials have not identified the man or the deputy or said what led the deputy to pull the trigger.
RELATED: Adams County deputy shoots, kills man who was reportedly walking with gun
D’anza said at any time of day, the man killed would frequently walk on Cumberland Avenue where the shooting happened.
“I had heard today that somebody picked him up and gave him a ride because he walked everywhere,” D’anza said. “So apparently somebody gave him a ride up here to 20th Avenue and let him off. I don’t know if they’d seen a gun, but they called it in after they let him off. I’ve seen him a couple of times walking up and down the street.”
D’anza told News 3 Now he doesn’t know if the man killed is local but said he assumes the man lived nearby given how often he was seen walking down the road.
The Adams County Sheriff’s Office declined to respond to News 3 Now’s request for comment, referring to the state’s justice department.
The deputy involved, who was not hurt, is on administrative assignment while the state investigates the shooting.
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