Man appears in court in Jan. 14 Chippewa Falls shooting

CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wis. (WEAU) - A suspect has been named in a downtown Chippewa Falls shooting that left one woman hurt on Jan. 14.

31-year-old Joshua Moggo was arrested shortly after the shooting and was recommended for one charge of attempted 1st-degree intentional homicide in addition to several other charges.

The Chippewa Falls Police Department said that at 8:20 p.m. on Jan. 14, they received two calls about a woman who had been shot in the abdomen at a home in downtown Chippewa Falls on Birch Street near the intersection with Bay Street. Both of the callers reported that the shooter was Moggo, the ex-boyfriend of the woman who had been shot. When police arrived, they provided first aid to the woman while searching for Moggo, who police believe fled the scene before they arrived. The woman was taken to a hospital for her injuries.

The Chippewa County DA’s Office said that Moggo shot the woman in her lower chest and upper stomach area, damaging her liver, stomach and bowels. Prosecutors said that when they took Moggo into custody, he was “laughing” about the incident and said that he shot the woman “in the heart.” Prosecutors added that it was fortunate that the woman was not shot in the heart, but still suffered serious internal injuries.

Moggo was ordered to be held on a $1 million cash bond with conditions of maintaining absolute sobriety, having no possession of drugs or firearms, and to have no contact with the victim, her residence or her children. Moggo is being held at the Chippewa County Jail.

In a release, the Chippewa Falls Police Department said that the woman and two children were watching TV in the home with a roommate in another room of the residence when Moggo arrived, pointing a gun at the woman. The woman and the roommate were able to get the children to a different room before Moggo shot the woman and fled the home. Prosecutors during Tuesday’s initial appearance in court said that there were three children present at the time of the shooting.

Chippewa Falls and Lake Hallie police, as well as the Chippewa County Sheriff’s Office, began to search for Moggo. About two hours after the shooting happened, Moggo called from Pizza Hut in Chippewa Falls to turn himself in. The gun used in the shooting was found on the ground near the home in which the shooting occurred.

Moggo will appear in Chippewa County Circuit Court Tuesday morning. The Chippewa Falls Police Department is referring charges of attempted 1st-degree intentional homicide, endangering safety with the reckless use of a firearm, felon in possession of a firearm, burglary armed with a dangerous weapon, two counts of violating domestic abuse restraining order and bail jumping. The referred attempted homicide charge has one enhancer of domestic violence and two enhancers of being done in the presence of a child.

In 2015, Moggo was arrested in Altoona as the suspect in an Amber Alert for his own child and pleaded no contest and was found guilty of kidnapping. Moggo was convicted of disorderly conduct-domestic abuse in 2014 and has an open case for disorderly conduct-domestic abuse in Chippewa County, according to online court records. These cases were referenced by prosecutors during Moggo’s initial appearance on Tuesday.

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