Wisconsin security employee murders co-worker
WIND LAKE, WS December 29 2019
The man accused of shooting and killing a man Thursday night in Wind Lake turned himself in Friday afternoon at the village of Hustisford Police Department, according to the Racine County Sheriff’s Office.
Christopher Schmaling said the suspect is Troy Hoffmann, 40.
He was taken to the Dodge County Jail but is now in the Racine County Jail.
The family has identified the homicide victim, on a GoFund Me page, as Chad Bickler, 40.
“Chad was a social giant. Everybody loved him. He was a great guy, funny. He’s the guy everybody wanted around, first on everybody’s list,” Bickler’s cousin, Brian Johnson said. “The only thing I really do know is thank God his brother, Clay, went out to grab pizza locally and those few minutes when he was out is when he came back to the devastation. He got to hold his brother one last time and tell him he loves him and gave him a kiss and then he faded away right in his arms.”
WISN 12 News has learned Hoffmann and the victim worked for the same company., Engineered Security Solutions Inc. based in New Berlin. There were several trucks at the crime scene as well as in the driveway at Hoffmann’s home in New Berlin.
The company worked issued the following statement about the victim:
“We are devastated by this senseless tragedy and are praying for our colleague and his family. He was a friend, an outstanding performer, a trusted teammate and an all-around wonderful person. He will be greatly missed,” said Brian Bautz, owner and CEO of Engineered Security Solutions Inc. “We will do everything in our power to assist law enforcement with their investigation. In the meantime, we are working to support our colleagues as we all come to terms with this unimaginable loss.”
Schmaling said Hoffmann crashed his vehicle into a parked car in a driveway on the 25000 block of Loomis Road in Wind Lake at about 6:30 p.m. Thursday. Schmaling said Hoffmann fired multiple shots into a residence and then forced his way in.
According to court records, Hoffmann doesn’t have any criminal history.
Authorities are still trying to determine a motive for the killing.
