Grant gets 32.5 years in prison for downtown La Crosse drive-by shooting

A 33-year-old Rochester man was sentenced Tuesday to 32 years in prison for a drive-by shooting in downtown La Crosse that left six people wounded.

Prosecutor Nick Passe called the incident that will put Deandrew Grant behind bars is La Crosse’s “first and only mass shooting,” which affected a lot of people in the community.

Grant had initially been charged with 29 counts for driving the wrong way on 3rd Street and firing shots from his car at people on the sidewalk on June 17, 2023.

One female victim, who spoke at Grant’s sentencing Tuesday, said that the bullet is still in her leg, adding she experiences post-traumatic stress and feels a lack of safety after being shot, and would like to see Grant sentenced to life in prison.

Grant was drunk and off medication that night. He reportedly got into a fight with others Polito’s Pizza, then went to his car around bar time.

Security videos taken just before the shooting were played in court, showing a car going fast in the wrong direction down 3rd Street.

Grant apologized in court to the victims, and said “I did wrong.” He added that he had just been let go from his job and started drinking and smoking weed before the shootings.

La Crosse County Judge Ramona Gonzalez told Grant that he “made a choice” that night to drive the wrong way and fire a gun. She said incarceration was the court’s only choice for a sentence.

Grant received 22.5 years in prison just on the attempted murder charge and added time on the lesser charges. He will pay restitution to at least one victim. Grant faces up to 10 years on extended supervision, after release from prison.

Grant’s attorney, Clare Schum, argued that adverse events early in her client’s life, including his father’s death, led him to struggle in later years.

Back in September, Grant pleaded guilty to four criminal counts, including attempted murder for the shooting.