Hunters Murdered in Rampage
As a hunter, I am personally distraught over this whole ordeal. When this story first broke out on the news, I just wanted to cry- everyone at our deer camp was very upset this weekend. How could anyone do such a thing? So sad. A 6th wounded person died in the hospital today from complications. I hope the b*stard (the shooter) rots in hell for what he did-unexcusable. He's gotten busted before for having game over the limit too.
This is the murder:
http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphic...112104-125.jpg
Town of Meteor - Five deer hunters were shot to death and three were wounded Sunday by a man who was hunting from someone else's tree stand in northern Wisconsin, authorities said.
The bizarre attack happened on private land in this Sawyer County town about noon on the second day of the gun deer season, a time when hundreds of thousands of deer hunters are in the woods throughout Wisconsin.
Sawyer County Chief Deputy Tim Zeigle said Chai Soua Vang, 36, of St. Paul, Minn., was arrested by a Department of Natural Resources warden just before dark about 4 p.m. on a road about one mile from the scene, just across the Sawyer County border in Rusk County.
Vang was armed with an SKS semiautomatic assault rifle, a weapon that's similar to a 30.06 but seldom used by deer hunters, Zeigle said.
Authorities said the rampage started after a hunting party saw a hunter they didn't know occupying their tree stand. That led to a confrontation, and at least one of the group was shot and wounded. One victim used a walkie-talkie to call for help, but when other hunting partners came to the scene, they also were shot, Zeigle said.
The victims began to scatter and run from their attacker who pursued them like "a sniper," Zeigle said. The three who were wounded managed to walk or run to safety, while the victims shot to death were found scattered across roughly 100 yards.
All five were dead by the time authorities arrived.
"It was like he was chasing after them to kill them. The bodies were a long way from one another," Zeigle said.
Authorities, who were trying to determine how many shots were fired, didn't know if any of the victims were able to fire back.
Before the shooting began, one of the victims jotted down the shooter's back tag number. All hunters are required to wear numbered tags on their back that include their names and addresses. Authorities were able to quickly figure out whom they were seeking because they knew his deer license number. When a warden discovered Vang, he was wearing the tag.
Some of the victims were from the Rice Lake area. The names of the dead - four males and one woman - were not released. The woman killed was the daughter of one of the wounded men. The males were all adults except for a teenage boy.
The wounded - all men - were taken to Lakeview Medical Center in Rice Lake. One man who was wounded more seriously than the other two, the victim whose daughter was killed, was airlifted to St. Joseph's Hospital in Marshfield where he was in critical condition. His name was not released.
At Lakeview Medical Center, the other two wounded men, Denny Drew, 55, of Rice Lake, and Lauren Hesebeck, whose age and home town were not released, underwent surgery. Drew was in serious condition and Hesebeck was in fair condition Sunday night, said Jennifer Grescowak, director of community relations at the medical center.
One of Drew's family members, who spoke only on condition he not be named, said he had been wounded in the abdomen. Hesebeck was shot in the arm.
The injured hunters tried to call for help, but because cell phone reception is spotty in the area of rolling, wooded land, the men loaded one of the wounded men into a pickup. They drove him to Ed's Pit Stop, in Birchwood, where they were met by an ambulance.
On Sunday night, a command post near the area was illuminated by lights from television stations from the Twin Cities and Wisconsin. Officials from the state Crime Lab were scheduled to arrive this morning. The FBI also was called in to assist.
Stands provide good view
Hunting parties are typically groups of friends and family members who in many cases have been hunting together for years.
Deer stands are usually small platforms in trees - 15 to 30 feet high. Hunters climb up to them on ladders so they can get a better view and a better shot at deer.
Since someone purchases or builds a stand and then goes to the trouble of installing it in a tree, it's considered poor etiquette to use another's deer stand without asking permission, particularly on opening weekend of the gun deer hunt when most hunters are using their stands.
Zeigle said Vang got lost in the woods because he didn't have a compass, and two hunters, who didn't know eight hunters had just been shot, helped him find De Jung Road, south of Deer Lake.
When Vang emerged from the woods, a DNR warden arrested him.
"When he was taken into custody his gun was empty and I bet those guys are thanking their lucky stars," Zeigle said of the officers who arrested Vang.
Authorities began blocking off roads and searching the woods. They also called in search dogs and helicopters with infrared equipment. But by then the warden had found Vang.
Vang was being held at the Sawyer County Jail Sunday night pending charges.
Other hunters flee area
Bill Wagner, 72, of Oshkosh, was about two miles away near Deer Lake with a party of about 20 other hunters. He said the shootings were "very upsetting."
After they got word of a shooting, he and others went to round up the rest of the party. He said they heard sirens, planes and helicopters and noticed the surrounding roads blocked off.
"When you're hunting, you don't expect somebody to try to shoot you and murder you," he said. "You have no idea who is coming up to you."
It took about three hours to round up the other hunters, who were up to four miles apart, Wagner said.
The incident won't deter their hunt, he said.
"We're all old, dyed-in-wool hunters," he said. "We wouldn't go home because of this but we will keep it in our minds. We're not forgetting it."
Loudspeakers alert hunters
Dale Olson, chairman of the 170-resident Town of Meteor, said sheriff's deputies were driving up and down area roads using loudspeakers to alert hunters to get out of the woods. The area has a lot of public land and attracts out-of-towners.
"Things like that just don't happen around here," Olson said.
Jon Sleik, chairman of the Town of Cedar Lake, in neighboring Barron County, said after rumors began flowing that the victims were from the Rice Lake area, many families were worried and desperate for information.
"It just looks like a real ugly situation," Sleik said. "Unbelievable. I guess you don't expect this kind of thing to happen here. I guess you don't expect it anywhere."
Town of Birchwood Chairwoman Jimmie Dimick, who has lived in the community for 40 years, noted that residents refer to this period as "holy week (because) everybody goes deer hunting."
"Especially for this part of the state, this doesn't happen," Dimick said of the shootings.
Dave Weitz, a DNR spokesman based in Eau Claire, said several game wardens were assisting at the scene. Weitz has worked for the DNR for decades.
"I can't ever remember anything that sounds like this happening before," Weitz said.
Journal Sentinel reporter Tom Kertscher and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
OTHER ARTICLE LINKS:
http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/nov04/277439.asp
http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/nov04/277828.asp
http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/nov04/277915.asp
I just can't believe it. :(
