GUILTY WI - Six deer hunters killed, 2 injured in Sawyer County shooting, 21 Nov 2004

This is shocking, but I bet when they look into this guy's past, signs that he was dangerous to others will pop up. The fact that he intruded on private property and then opened fire because he felt "wronged" shows an aggressive, hostile, paranoid brain at work. Crazy.

BBMc

A deer hunter, who apparently intruded on private property, killed five other hunters and wounded three more during the opening weekend of deer season, authorities in Wisconsin said.

A 36-year-old man was arrested Sunday afternoon when he came out of the woods, sheriff's officials said. Two of the wounded were in critical condition Monday.

Deputy Jake Hodgkinson identified the suspect as Chai Vang but would give no details. Vang is from St. Paul, Minnesota, said Paul Schnell, a spokesman for the St. Paul police department.

The shooting started when two hunters returning to their rural cabin saw the suspect in one of their hunting platforms in a tree, Sawyer County Chief Deputy Tim Zeigle said. The platforms or "tree stands" allow hunters to see deer without being easily seen themselves.

Both of those hunters were wounded and one of them radioed friends at the cabin a quarter-mile away. Other members of their group responded and they also were shot, he said.

"It's absolutely nuts. Why? Over sitting in a tree stand?" asked Zeigle.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/11/22/hunters.slain.ap/index.html

A sixth hunter has died in this massacre:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,139327,00.html

I, too am from Northern Wisconsin, and am appalled at what has happened here. I come from a family of deer hunters, my husband and son are deer hunters, you don't just go sit in somebody else's stand! I am very curious to learn why he was even hunting there in the first place! Relatives in the area, friends? He had to have known the land was posted, the signs were all over the place. I think this is going to be quite a story as it unfolds.
:doh:

Mom,
From what I've read that there was 400 private acres adjacent to public land available for hunting. I can accept that he might have been turned around/lost and didn't realize he strayed onto private property, but to slaughter 6 people ... I'm just at a loss for words ...

"He's an avid hunter, and some blaze orange garments were still on his porch in St. Paul's Dayton's Bluff neighborhood, where a "no trespassing" sign hangs on a backyard fence behind his pale yellow home."
http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/5100426.html


I didn't read that article. That's horrible!!!! There is no excuse for what he did - I just don't understand how this could have happened....

http://www.wisinfo.com/postcrescent/

Vang's Statement to the police.

This story is all over my local news AND radio too !! Horrible.. thats the only word I can find to describe

http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/news/state/10262758.htm
Detective: authorities also look at 2001 hunter slaying

Associated Press


MILWAUKEE - Authorities are looking into whether the man suspected of killing six deer hunters in northern Wisconsin this week was involved in the unsolved slaying of another deer hunter three years ago, a detective told a newspaper.


.............
Jim Southworth was shot to death Nov. 23, 2001, as he hunted on family land 10 miles east of Neillsville and Kirn said he had exchanged frequent calls this week with investigators in Sawyer County, where the six hunters were killed and two others wounded Sunday.

But "it is premature to speculate if there is a connection" between the two incidents, Kirn said.

Kirn did not immediately return a call left early Wednesday by The Associated Press. Calls to the Sawyer County Sheriff's Department on the matter were referred to state Justice Department spokesman Brian Rieselman, who was not immediately available at his office early Wednesday.

Southworth was shot twice in the back, an autopsy found. Court record say several of those killed Sunday where shot in the back.

Witnesses said they saw a pickup truck with three men inside on a road near where Southworth's body was found, about 80 miles south of Sunday's shooting.

The three men were described as Asian from 5-foot-4-inches to 6-feet tall, driving a silver or gray Nissan or Chevrolet pickup truck, possibly a late 1980s model with a light-colored fiberglass topper.

Chai Vang, 36, of St. Paul, Minn., who is being held on $2.5 million bond in Sunday's shootings, is 5-foot-4, according to a court document.

Vang has owned a 1987 Nissan pickup, the Journal Sentinel said, attributing that information to an unnamed online search service.

I am interested in this story and will be following it. My personal guess is that he was people hunting. The article says that he was an avid hunter and that he had a no trespassing sign. I think that he knew exactly what he was doing.

I suspect he was called some rude and racial names. I also think he may not have understood the private land vs. public land and trespassing thing. He may have had war flashbacks. THIS IS NOT AN EXCUSE FOR SLAUGHTERING 6 PEOPLE! But I'll make you a bet he'll plead temporary insanity. He is a danger to society, and should be put away.

Just tragic. Obviously the hunters were armed as well, so I wonder how come nobody took him out while he was chasing guys down and shooting them in the back?

Mr. Vang may have had 2 friends that accomanied him. His 2 friends have not been seen since the day of the shooting.

LE in Wisconsin are also investigating a similar shooting that took place a few years ago...a hunter was gunned down after a confrontation with a trespasser. At that time 3 Asian men and a grey pickup truck were seen in that area. They were never identified.

It has been established that Mr. Vang did hunt in Wisconsin that year and that he has previously owned a gray pickup truck. Police are investigating to see if there is a connection.

http://wcco.com/topstories/local_story_329100941.html

I'm in Louisiana, and an AP article in my local paper says that only one of the hunters had a gun on him at the time of the incident---were the other five truly unarmed? How do you hunt without a gun? Or is the article wrong?

kgeaux said:

I'm in Louisiana, and an AP article in my local paper says that only one of the hunters had a gun on him at the time of the incident---were the other five truly unarmed? How do you hunt without a gun? Or is the article wrong?

Click to expand...

Kgeaux, you have the right article. They may have left their guns in the cabin. It's also come out now that Vang owns 40 acres of hunting land not too far from where the incident occurred.

http://www.wisinfo.com/postcrescent/news/archive/local_18894437.shtml

ugg! :sick:

RPPaolin said:

http://www.wisinfo.com/postcrescent/news/archive/local_18894437.shtml

ugg! :sick:

Click to expand...

He does need to be charged with a hate crime if he was painting this on these people's homes. That is outrageous!:furious:

Has anyone else got any updates on this story? It is my understanding that the first ones attacked radioed back to the lodge where they were staying. Their friends took the four wheelers and went to see what was going on. Only one victim was armed.

Apparently Vang initially told the LE that the first hunter (the one with the gun) took Vang's gun and shot his friends and then forced him to walk up to the bodies.

I too am in NE Wisconsin - and this just makes me sick...
I have no other words for it at all.