MILWAUKEE, WI- A 36-year-old Wisconsin man is under arrest in connection with the shooting deaths of three people during a domestic violence incident earlier this month, Law & Crime reports.
Thomas Zollicoffer, 36, has been charged with three counts of first-degree intentional homicide in connection with the Aug. 8 shooting at a Milwaukee apartment complex and a secondary scene later, a criminal complaint reviewed by the outlet showed.
The criminal complaint showed that police were called to an apartment complex in response to a reported shooting. On arrival, police found Vanessa DeHerrera, 26, and Scott Bucholz, 29, dead of gunshot wounds inside an apartment. Police recovered six brass 9mm casings at the scene.
Zollicoffer was the estranged boyfriend of DeHerrera and was staying at the apartment with a friend. The woman told police that Zollicoffer came to the apartment at around 4:00 p.m. on the 8th and he and DeHerrera began arguing. At some point during the argument, Zollicoffer handed his gun over to DeHerrera, but about 30 minutes before the shooting she gave it back to him when he told her he was going to leave. Police said Zollicoffer stayed at the apartment and “began to drink more alcohol.”
The woman who rented the apartment, who was not identified, said she left to go to her bedroom when she heard five gunshots. An unidentified person came into the bedroom and told the woman, “He shot her.”
Yet another unidentified witness inside the apartment told police he saw Zollicoffer point a gun at DeHerrera’s head and say, “I told you to quit playing with me,” at which point he shot her in the head. He then turned the gun on people sitting on the couch, then fled the apartment. When police arrived, several people were hiding in the bedroom. Bucholz was shot while sitting on the couch.
Witnesses outside the apartment heard the gunshots and said they saw a white car make “a weird U-turn" before driving back toward the apartment. They then saw a black male exit the apartment, get into the white car, which then sped off.
Just after 5:00 p.m., Milwaukee police received a call in a different part of Milwaukee which was described as an apartment belonging to Shamarla Hare, 39. In that case, a witness told police someone knocked on the door and asked for someone who was not there. A different witness who lived in the home answered the door and allowed the man, identified as Zollicoffer, to enter the apartment.
Zollicoffer spoke to Hare, telling her, “I wanna talk to y’all, I got something to tell y’all,” at which point Hare began walking toward the door. A witness told police that Zollicoffer then grabbed Hare, telling her, “I said I wanted to talk to y’all.” At that point, Zollicoffer pulled a gun from his waistband, told Hare, “I can’t stand you anyways,” and shot her. After saying, “Look what you made me do,” he shot Hare again “at close range.”
Zollicoffer then told another witness, “I just killed my baby mana,” pointed a gun at her, then left. He took a pack of cigarettes as he left “with tears rolling down his face.” After he left, a witness called 911.
Hare was transported to a local hospital where she succumbed to her injuries. Police recovered two brass 9mm shell casings at the scene.
On Aug. 11, police tracked Zollicoffer to a local residence and after a standoff with police, he agreed to leave, tossing two loaded guns to the pavement as he left, one black Taurus G2C 9mm pistol, police said.
Police Mirandized Zollicoffer, who told them he did not intend to kill DeHerrera when he went to the apartment on Aug. 8, however said he “lost it” and shot her in the head. Bucholz was shot, he said, because he was “talking sh*t. When asked why he shot Hare, Zollicoffer said, “the motherf*cker grabbed me.”
WISN, a local ABC affiliate, and a GoFundMe started by friends, said Bucholz attempted to intervene in the domestic dispute between DeHerrera and Zollicoffer when he was shot. A GoFundMe started on behalf of Zollicoffer said she was the mother of two boys.
Meanwhile a GoFundMe started on behalf of Hare said she was a United States Navy veteran and “a loving mother, daughter, sister, and cherished friend.”
Zollicoffer has been charged with three counts of first-degree intentional homicide and four counts of felony firearm possession. He is currently being held at the Milwaukee County Jail on a $250,000 cash bond.
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