Charges Filed Against Eau Claire Man Involved in Domestic Dispute Where Gunshots Were Fired

Thursday, May 30th, 2024 -- 12:01 PM

(Heather Knox, WEAU) Charges were filed against an Eau Claire man following a domestic dispute where gunshots were fired.

According to Heather Know with WEAU, court documents show that on May 28, 53-year-old Thomas Burback of Eau Claire, Wis., was charged with failure to comply with an officer’s attempt to take a person into custody, possession of a firearm while intoxicated and disorderly conduct.

A $5,000 signature bond was set for Burback. A hearing is scheduled for July 11. According to the criminal complaint, on May 24, an officer heard a call for help from a female officer on the police radio from 2232 2nd St. in Eau Claire, Wis.

The female officer was on an unrelated call when she heard screaming at the house and walked over. She advised that a man, later identified as Burback, had gone inside the home with a revolver. She believed he had a gunshot wound to the back.

When other officers arrived on the scene, they could see Burback moving from window to window inside the house. The female officer reported that there was a woman inside the house whom she believed to be uninjured.

She was able to get her out of the house after shots were fired. In explaining what happened, she said when she arrived, she found two little kids hiding in the corner. They told her their grandmother was upstairs and in a fight. The officer could hear the man yelling expletives.

After she got the kids to the neighbor’s house, she returned and identified herself as “police department” to Burback. She said she believed Burback had his gun pointed in her direction before pointing it upward and retreating back into the house with the grandmother. She said that is when she shot.

In an interview later, the grandmother said Burback had been drinking and that she heard gunshots. She reported that he was holding his back and saying something like, “she shot me.”

She said she did not see blood and did not see him fall because she was focused on making sure her granddaughter was okay.

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