Madison man finds bullet holes in home

A homeowner on Madison’s east side contacted police after recently discovering bullet holes in his home.

On the morning of Dec. 29, Cory Klicko said he was surprised to find bullet homes at his home in the 10 block of O’Brien Court.

“I came up to fix breakfast for the kids and saw a bullet hole in the window,” said Klicko, a father of four boys.

Klicko discovered another hole in the wall right next to his refrigerator in line with the one in the back window. He had to remove dry wall in that spot to get to whatever was left of the bullet.

Klicko also spotted a mark on a kitchen cabinet under the sink and a bullet hole through the wall and into the bathroom, all presumably made by the same shot.

Police told Klicko the shots likely came from a small-caliber gun.

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“Thank goodness it wasn’t any higher or it would have come through the bedroom walls and the headboards are right there and it would have been tragic,” Klicko said, thinking about his boys sleeping upstairs.

Klicko didn’t hear anything that night, but said his father sleeping downstairs heard a loud bang around 4 a.m. on Dec. 29. No one was hurt, and Klicko said he hasn’t heard of any other neighboring houses on O’Brien Court getting hit.

The same day Klicko reported the incident at his home to police, reports of a second incident came in to the Madison Police Department. On the 4500 block of Milwaukee Street, a glass window pane was damaged at a Chase Bank. Not far down the road, only a line of trees separate Milwaukee Street and the Klicko’s backyard.

Officer Howard Payne with the Madison Police Department said the two incidents look similar, and a detective is investigating any connection.

“It’s possible that an individual was moving down the roadway, and that happened to have been one of those situations where that was the focus at that particular time, but it’s unclear,” Payne said.

Police said there were no suggestions that the home was the focus of any specific activity related to the incident.

Payne said officers are hesitant to label this as a “drive-by shooting,” since that typically implies a shooter has a specific target.

“Usually when you say those types of titles, it’s indicative that this was a focused attack, this was an individual that was being looked at specifically,” Payne explained. “And I don’t think that we have that information at this particular juncture of the investigation.”

At this point, Payne said police do not have any leads or suspects. He added that this is thought to be a random and isolated occurrence, and that neighbors should not be overly concerned for their safety.

Klicko is heeding that advice and said he’s not worried for his own family’s protection. Nevertheless, he would like to see whoever fired the rounds pay for the crime. Klicko has even offered a reward on his personal Facebook page.

“I think the more it gets out there, the more chance I have to get the information,” Klicko said.

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Madison Police Department’s Crime Stoppers line at 608-266-6014.