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HAYWARD, WIS. -- The first three victims in a hunting camp shooting in northwestern Wisconsin on Sunday were apparently taken by surprise, and the other five were hit when they came to help, the Sawyer County Sheriff said today.
Sheriff Jim Meier said during a news conference that the suspect, Chai Vang, 36, of St. Paul, apparently came into the county with other friends to hunt on public land where he may have hunted before.
Vang apparently became lost and asked some other hunters for directions. At some point, Meier said, Vang wandered onto a privately owned 400-acre tract where he discovered and occupied a deer stand.
The tract is well marked with "no trespassing'' signs Meier said.
The owners of the tract were at a hunting camp on the property and one of the members of the party, on an ATV, found Vang in the tree stand at around noon. The man used a walkie-talkie to call back to camp to ask if Vang had permission to hunt there.
Shooting suspectKstp-tvHe was told no and asked Vang to leave, Meier said. Two other members of the party joined the first member.
Vang agreed, climbed down and walked away.
''The suspect was walking away at the time. For some apparent reason he turned and opened fire on them,'' Meier said, hitting the man with the walkie-talkie.
That man called for help and when other members of the party responded Vang allegedly opened fire on them, too, the sheriff said.
Other members of the hunting party left the camp and, unarmed, tried to help, he said.
"The rescuers, who also came under fire, checked bodies for signs of life," Meier said. "They grabbed who they could grab and get out of there because they were still under fire....They put those people in a truck. Some of victims were obviously deceased and they were left at the scene."
Doctor describes woundsJim MoneAssociated PressThe wounded were taken to into Birchwood for ambulance care and then taken to Rice Lake Hospital, Meier said.
The injured were identified as Lauren Hesebeck and Dennis Drew, both hospitalized in Rice Lake, and Terry Willers, hospitalized in Marshfield, Wis. Authorities said the dead were Robert Crotteau, 42, and his son, Joey, 20; Al Laski, 43; Mark Roidt, 28; and Jessica Willers, 27, daughter of Terry Willers.
The man who first confronted Vang and who was wounded wrote down in the dust on his ATV the number on the hunting license Vang had pinned to his back. Police were able to use the number to get Vang's name and relay it to other law enforcement officials.
Map of shootingsThe shooting ended after about 15 minutes and Vang disappeared.
Later in the afternoon, a game warden told two men riding ATVs to watch for Vang and gave them Vang's hunting license number, Meier said. Later in the day, the two ATVers came upon a hunter told them he was lost. The two men volunteered to take the hunter for help. When they saw his license number and realized the lost man was Vang and they asked if they could take him to a game warden. Vang agreed, Meier said.
Jeremy Peery, 28, a DNR conservation warden from Ladysmith, arrested Vang abotu 3/4 of a mile from the shooting scene along a logging road.
Peery recognized the license tag on Vang's back and made the arrest. Vang did not resist. ''He was very calm. He didn't say anything. It's interesting that he was that calm,'' Peery said. He cuffed Vang and put him into his DNR vehicle.
Vang is in custody at the Sawyer County Jail. He has not confessed to a crime, Meier said.
Law enforcement agencies including the Sawyer, Barron and Rusk county sheriff's departments, local police departments, the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms are investigating as are agencies in the Twin Cities, Meier said.
Investigators from the Wisconsin State Patrol were mapping the scene of the shooting today, marking detailed positions of bodies, bullet casings and spent bullets.
Meier said Vang was a naturalized American citizen originally from Laos and had military experience. He speaks English well, Meier said.
A woman who said she was Vang's sister and that she lives in Minneapolis, but who wouldn't give her name, arrived in the area at mid-morning. Asked if her brother is innocent of the crime, she said ''I don't know.''
Two surviving victims of the rampage were shot from only a few dozen yards away, the surgeon who treated them said today.
Dr. Lynn Koob told reporters at Lakeview Medical Center this morning that Denny Drew and Lauren Hesebeck were shot from about 50 yards away by someone using a high-powered weapon. Koob said the injuries "ranked right up there" with the worst he had seen at the hospital, which occasionally treats gunshot victims.
Koob said he concluded the weapons were high powered due to the amount of tissue damage. He said he knew the victims and their families, but "emotions take a back seat when you're in the operating room. After we're done with the surgery, the emotions kind of catch up to you sometimes."
Drew remained in critical condition this morning, Koob said. Doctors were weaning him off medications to support his blood pressure and his vital organs were working well today.
"It seems like he is stabilizing," Koob said. "He's actually doing a little better than last night."
Koob described how Drew had been shot by a bullet that tore through his abdominal cavity and organs before exiting the other side of his body.
Hesebeck, the other surviving victim at Lakeview, was listed in stable condition today after being shot in the shoulder and arm. His wounds did "not involve any vital structures," Koob said.
A third man, Terry Willers, was being treated at Marshfield Clinic for a gunshot wound to his neck and shoulder. Willers had some "bony injuries," Koob said, but reported that the staff in Marshfield said he was "doing fine" today.
Hospital president and CEO Ned Wolf was generous with praise for the emergency room staff today.
"Our folks did an admirable job," Wolf said. He noted that the hospital had procedures in place to deal with massive trauma, and to transport patients such as Willers to other facilities.
The hospital was put into lockdown overnight "to ensure that the families weren't overwhelmed by well-wishers and others who were concerned," Wolf said. Barron County Sheriff Tom Richie said the victims were all "well-known, well-respected members of our community."
Authorities planned to release the names of the five people killed in the shootings at a press conference scheduled for early this afternoon.
A fund has been established for the families of survivors and victims of the shootings. Contributions can be sent to:
Posts: 486 | From: Eagan, MN | Registered: Oct 2000
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Why the hell did this crazy shit have to be using a sks???? I cant imagine having this happen, and being one of those families, AND THEN they're gonna have to watch this get politicized to all end and turn it into the next brady bill...
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I was hunting in the Grantsburg/Siren area in Burnett county not too far from where this all happened. Another of the injured Dennis Drew died tonight
-------------------- Gisel, I was looking at the picture page and I do have to admit, you look pretty good for a gaming female. Having said that, don't expect any sympathy when we meet on the battlefield. I am a fighter first, lover second. Posts: 2220 | From: Prescott, WI, USA | Registered: Apr 2001
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send him to the gallows! Thank Betty McCullom for this. If there are two wounds or more on the dead then this is homicide rather then self deffence.
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