Crouch arrested in shooting near Republic; one hurt

A Willard man was arrested and booked into the Greene County Jail on Thursday, Aug. 22, after he allegedly fired multiple shots at a house near Republic, one of which struck a minor-aged girl, on Tuesday, Aug. 20. William Joseph Crouch, 34, is charged with multiple felonies in the case, including three counts of unlawful use of a weapon, three counts of armed criminal action, second degree assault and unlawful possession of a weapon.
Shots fired
According to the probable cause statement in the case, Greene County deputy sheriffs responded to the scene after the shots were fired. At around 8:35 p.m., shots were fired at the residence; the homeowner was in an interior room of the house while the children and people visiting were conversing in the living room. One of the projectiles hit the girl in the abdomen, causing a superficial wound. Deputy Derek James, public information officer for the Greene County Sheriff’s Office (GCSO), said the girl was treated for her injury at the residence.
“The juvenile suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was assessed and cleared by EMS personnel on scene,” he said.
Footage showed shooter was riding a motorcycle
Others in the house told the homeowner that someone had fired shots at the house. The homeowner ran outside, but the shooter had fled. The homeowner then called 911 and began reviewing the home surveillance footage.
The surveillance footage showed, according to the probable cause statement, what appeared to be an unknown person riding on a motorcycle passing by the residence from the east with its headlamp and taillights turned off. As the motorcycle came within 15 to 20 feet of the driveway, a flash that appeared to be from a firearm could be seen. The person on the motorcycle appeared to walk it back before firing more shots towards the residence before fleeing the scene. The shots struck two vehicles at the residence. Seven spent shell casings and two live nine-millimeter rounds were recovered at the location in the roadway from which the shooter fired.
Investigation leads to Crouch
During an interview with law enforcement, the homeowner suggested that the incident might be related to an “ongoing civil issue between his mechanic business and a local auto sales business.”
An investigator researched cases involving the auto sales business named by the homeowner and located a report in which a crime victim stated her ex-boyfriend shot at her vehicle while it was in the car lot mentioned in the report.
The suspect in that case was Crouch, and the report indicated that a nine-millimeter shell casing was recovered and a motorcycle Crouch was riding was towed from the scene.
“According to public domain information,” the probable cause stated, “Crouch was put on GPS monitoring as a bond condition from an unrelated case.”
The investigator reported that he followed up with the agency monitoring Crouch’s GPS device and found that, on the date and time of the shooting, he was at the residence which was shot at.
In a post-Miranda interview, “Crouch denied being in the area of the victim residence or taking part in any criminal act.”
As of press time, Crouch remained in the Greene County Jail, with no court dates scheduled for him.