Tomah sentenced to 2 years on charges related to shooting death at La Crosse apartments near Gundersen

A 19-year-old man from Tomah is sentenced to 2 years in prison, as a result of a fatal shooting near Gundersen Medical Center in La Crosse last year.

Sage Hicke was sentenced on Friday for intimidating a witness, and felony possession of a firearm. A homicide charge against Hicke was previously dismissed in a plea agreement.

Hicke has argued that he shot teenagers Storm Vondrashek and Jackson Greengrass in self-defense, because they were coming to shoot him over a dispute. Vondrashek died in the shooting outside a 7th Street apartment building on May 22nd, 2022, and Greengrass was shot in the foot.

Jail time served by Hicke will be counted toward his sentence of 2 years in prison, followed by 4 years of extended supervision. He was given credit for 209 days served in the county jail.

Judge Elliott Levine told Hicke that a prison sentence was aimed at protecting the public. The judge said Hicke had made a “grave and horrible decision” to shoot at Vondrashek and Greengrass, and he criticized the country’s “weird fascination with guns.”

Prosecutor Jessica Skemp said everybody involved in the shooting incident should get blame for it, and all of them were “acting inappropriately.” Defense attorney Andrew Martinez said that Hicke wanted to prevent risk to others in the apartment building when he saw Vondrashek and Greengrass carrying weapons.