Posted on 11/21/2004 4:15:12 PM PST by Jotmo
http://www.waow.com/news/full_story.php?id=36202&waow=178d2eefdc3fc10fcd3e958ee5de869c
FIVE KILLED - THREE INJURED IN HUNTING ARGUMENT
AT LEAST FIVE PEOPLE WERE KILLED AND THREE WOUNDED IN A MULTIPLE SHOOTING IN NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN SUNDAY AFTERNOON. AFTER A CONFRONTATION OVER THE USE OF A DEER STAND, A 36-YEAR-OLD ST. PAUL MAN APPARENTLY CHASED SOME OF THE VICTIMS THROUGH A HEAVILY WOODED AREA, AUTHORITIES SAID.
CHAI SOUA VANG, 36, WAS ARRESTED EARLY SUNDAY EVENING IN SAWYER COUNTY, WIS., SAID SAWYER COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPUTY JAKE HODGKINSON. VANG LIVES ON ST. PAUL'S EAST SIDE, POLICE SPOKESMAN PAUL SCHNELL SAID.
VANG WAS BEING HELD IN THE SAWYER COUNTY JAIL IN HAYWARD.
TIM ZEIGLE, CHIEF DEPUTY FOR THE SAWYER COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT, SAID SUNDAY NIGHT THAT FOUR MEN AND ONE WOMAN WERE AMONG THE DEAD.
ZEIGLE SAID THE BODIES WERE FOUND "A LONG WAY FROM EACH OTHER," INDICATING THE KILLER CHASED THEM DOWN AFTER THE INITIAL CONFRONTATION AND AS SEVERAL HUNTERS CAME TO ASSIST THEIR COLLEAGUES.
SHOOTING SUSPECTKSTP-TVINVESTIGATORS FOUND TWO BODIES NEXT TO EACH OTHER, WITH A THIRD 50 YARDS AWAY, THE FOURTH 75 YARDS FROM THE THIRD AND THE FINAL BODY 100 YARDS FROM THE FOURTH, ZEIGLE SAID.
THEY WERE KILLED WITH AN SKS ASSAULT-STYLE RIFLE, HE ADDED.
"HE WAS PICKING THEM OFF," ZEIGLE SAID, ADDING THAT SOME WERE SHOT MORE THAN ONCE. "HE WAS CHASING AFTER THEM AND KILLING THEM."
AUTHORITIES WERE STILL WORKING ON THE CRIME SCENE LATE SUNDAY NIGHT.
TWO OF THE VICTIMS WERE IDENTIFIED BY FRIENDS SUNDAY AS ROBERT CROTTEAU, ABOUT 41, AND HIS SON, JOEY, ABOUT 20.
"THIS IS NOT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN TO PEOPLE YOU KNOW," SAID MARK MILLER, OWNER OF FAT MAN'S, A RICE LAKE TAVERN WHERE ROBERT CROTTEAU OFTEN STOPPED BY FOR LUNCH.
MILLER ALSO BELIEVED TWO OTHERS WHO WERE KILLED WERE A FATHER AND DAUGHTER.
CROTTEAU OWNED A CONCRETE COMPANY IN TOWN, SAID LONGTIME RICE LAKE CITY COUNCIL MEMBER MARV THOMPSON SAID.
"THEY'RE A GOOD FAMILY," THOMPSON SAID. "THEY'RE DECENT PEOPLE. DEER HUNTING IS REAL BIG IN THEIR FAMILY AND A LOT OF HOUSEHOLDS AROUND HERE."
ZEIGLE SAID THAT A MAN DRESSED IN HUNTING CLOTHES WAS OCCUPYING A TREE STAND ON PRIVATE PROPERTY AROUND NOON SUNDAY. HE DID NOT HAVE PERMISSION TO HUNT ON THE LAND AND WAS ASKED BY A GROUP OF DEER HUNTERS TO LEAVE.
AFTER ONE MAN WAS SHOT, HE USED A WALKIE-TALKIE TO CONTACT OTHERS IN HIS PARTY NEARBY THAT HE NEEDED HELP. WHEN MEMBERS OF HIS PARTY CAME OUT, THEY ALSO WERE SHOT, ZEIGLE SAID.
ROADS NEAR THE SCENE WERE CLOSED TO ALL TRAFFIC, INCLUDING AMBULANCES, AS AUTHORITIES FROM SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENTS IN SAWYER, RUSK AND BARRON COUNTIES WERE INVOLVED IN THE MANHUNT.
ACCORDING TO BROADCAST REPORTS, THE MAN THEN FLED INTO THE WOODS AND CAME UPON ANOTHER HUNTER WHO WAS ABLE TO TELL HIM HOW TO GET OUT.
WHEN HE GOT OUT, HE WAS MET BY A WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES OFFICER WHO CONTACTED POLICE.
OFFICERS ARRESTED VANG WITHOUT INCIDENT. HIS RIFLE WAS EMPTY.
ZEIGLE SAID AUTHORITIES WERE NOTIFIED OF THE SHOOTINGS SHORTLY AFTER NOON, WHEN A MEMBER OF THE HUNTING PARTY STOPPED AT A GAS STATION IN THE BIRCHWOOD WHILE TAKING ONE OF THE VICTIMS TO THE HOSPITAL.
THE CALLER SAID SIMPLY, "THERE WERE FIVE PEOPLE DEAD IN THE WOODS," ZEIGLE SAID.
DEPUTIES WERE IMMEDIATELY DISPATCHED TO THE SCENE AND FOUND THE BODIES IN THE BRUSH. THE INJURED WERE TAKING TO HOSPITALS. AT THAT POINT, AUTHORITIES STARTED THEIR SEARCH FOR VANG, TAKING TO COUNTY ROADS AND THE AIR HOPING TO FIND HIM.
ONE OF THE HUNTERS HAD GIVEN AUTHORITIES VANG'S "TAG NUMBER," WHICH IDENTIFIES DEER HUNTERS WHEN THEY GET THEIR LICENSES. THE HUNTER HAD WRITTEN THE NUMBER DOWN DURING THE CONFRONTATION THAT SPARKED THE SHOOTING.
THREE WOUNDED MEN WERE TAKEN TO LAKEVIEW MEDICAL CENTER IN RICE LAKE, WIS. ONE OF THE VICTIMS, DENNY DREW, HAD SURGERY AND WAS IN SERIOUS CONDITION, SAID JENNIFER GRESHOWAK, THE HOSPITAL'S DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY RELATIONS. ANOTHER, LAUREN HESEBECK, ALSO HAD SURGERY, AND HE WAS IN FAIR CONDITION.
A THIRD VICTIM WAS FLOWN TO A TRAUMA CENTER IN MARSHFIELD, WIS., AND WAS LISTED IN CRITICAL CONDITION.
HESENBECK'S WIFE, THERESA HESENBECK, WHO ALSO IS DREW'S SISTER, SAID SUNDAY NIGHT THAT SHE LEARNED ABOUT THE SHOOTINGS SHORTLY AFTER LEAVING CHURCH, WHERE SHE HAD "PRAYED FOR A SAFE HUNT."
DREW WAS SHOT IN THE STOMACH. THE BULLET WENT IN ONE SIDE AND OUT THE OTHER, FAMILY MEMBERS SAID. THEY ADDED THAT LAUREN HESENBECK WAS SHOT IN THE ARM AND THE BULLET EXITED THROUGH HIS BACK.
THE SHOOTINGS HAPPENED IN METEOR TOWNSHIP IN SOUTHWESTERN SAWYER COUNTY, BETWEEN THE CITIES OF BIRCHWOOD AND EXELAND.
THE DREW AND HESEBECK FAMILY SAID IN A STATEMENT SUNDAY THAT THEY "CERTAINLY APPRECIATE THE THOUGHTS AND PRAYER OF THIS CLOSE-KNIT COMMUNITY AND ENCOURAGE YOU TO THINK AND PRAY FOR THE OTHER FAMILIES INVOLVED."
WISCONSIN'S STATEWIDE DEER GUN HUNTING SEASON STARTED SATURDAY AND LASTS FOR NINE DAYS.
MILLER SAID HE USED TO PLAY FAST-PITCH SOFTBALL WITH ROBERT CROTTEAU AND HIS BROTHERS. MILLER SAID HE BROUGHT A CAR THIS SPRING FROM DENNY DREW, "AND LAUREN HESENBECK RODE WITH ME TO PUT GAS IN IT. IT'S A SMALL TOWN AND EVERYBODY KNOWS EVERYBODY.
"IT'S GOING TO BE STRANGE WORKING [TODAY]. IT'S ALL THAT PEOPLE WILL BE TALKING ABOUT."
THE ARRESTED MAN, VANG, LIVES IN AN AGING, TWO-STORY HOUSE ON ST. PAUL'S LOWER EAST SIDE.
HE AND HIS FAMILY APPARENTLY MOVED INTO THE NEIGHBORHOOD EARLIER THIS YEAR, SAID JOHN BLACK, A LIFELONG RESIDENT OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD WHO LIVES ACROSS THE STREET.
BLACK AND HIS WIFE, CHERYL, SAID SUNDAY NIGHT THAT THE FAMILY PRETTY MUCH KEPT TO THEMSELVES, RARELY INTERACTING WITH NEIGHBORS. THEY SAID THEY NEVER SPOKE WITH THE MAN, BUT DESCRIBED HIM AS "REAL CLEAN-CUT" AND "NICELY DRESSED."
JOHN BLACK SAID HE BELIEVED THERE WERE SEVERAL CHILDREN LIVING IN THE HOME, BUT ADDED THAT HE DIDN'T KNOW HOW MANY THERE WERE OR WHAT THEIR RELATION TO VANG MIGHT BE.
"WE NEVER HAD ANY PROBLEMS WITH THEM," BLACK, 56, SAID. "WE NEVER HEARD A PEEP OUT OF THOSE GUYS, TO BE HONEST WITH YOU. WE'RE FLOORED. WHAT WOULD TAKE A GUY TO THAT POINT?"
JOHN BLACK SAID HE WAS WATCHING A FOOTBALL GAME SOMETIME AFTER 3:30 P.M. SUNDAY WHEN HE NOTICED SOME COMMOTION OUTSIDE AND SAW SEVERAL UNMARKED POLICE CARS PULL UP IN FRONT OF VANG'S HOUSE.
"THEY WOULDN'T TELL US ANYTHING," SAID BLACK, WHO EVENTUALLY FOUND OUT WHAT WAS GOING ON FROM A TV CAMERAMAN.
AT ONE POINT, BLACK SAID, POLICE LED A WOMAN FROM THE HOUSE, SHIELDING HER FROM CAMERAS BY COVERING HER FACE WITH A BLANKET.
Thank you for that link.
Some posters, on this thread and others related to this topic, have indicated the Homong are highly regarded jungle fighters, insinuating that this young man had previous experience. If his age is truely 36, as is stated in the newspaper, it's safe to say he was not carrying a gun in his Mother Country. He probably came here as a child.
Thanks for posting that article. A little different angle to it, with a few more details.
Since it appears he was chasing them thru the field/timber, it's going to be difficult to establish a Self Defense case.
I bet they try, though. His best bet is an insanity plea?
People get snarly around these parts in deer season. My dad had someone (the adjacent land owner) actually come out and saw in two all the steps to a deer blind he allowed someone to build on his property. The other property owner was embarrassed when a survey showed that the blind was on my dad's property.
Other people just show up and start hunting, even though land is posted. We have gone out and told them to leave, usually without a problem. Mostly it's folks not from the local area that are the worst offenders.
I agree. The intial version of the story made it sound like they were all shot from the tower. In that version it might be possible to claim self-defense as it is unlikely that you could surrender and come down having shot a member of a well armed hunting party.
[snip]
Denny Drew, 55, was in critical condition Monday with a gunshot wound through his stomach.
Drew's brother-in-law, Lauren Hesebeck, was shot in the shoulder. Terry Willers, a friend, was shot in the neck. Both men suffered bone injuries that were not as serious as Drew's, Koob said. Hesebeck was in stable condition at Lakeview, and Willers was in critical condition at St. Joseph's Hospital in Marshfield.
[snip]
Thanks for the post. Unfortunately I got the real bad news this morning that my employee's brother is one of the victims. I'm just sick, stunned, and totally out of it.
Oh, I'm so sorry for her loss! Please give her my condolenses and let her know I'm praying for each and every one of them.
Also praying for strength for you. Blessings.
Thanks for posting this. My family of men will take to Iowa fields in a couple of weeks for deer season. This story just makes my skin crawl.
Usually from cities, in my experience.
Prayers for your employee's brother and all the victims. So very sad.
It seems we can pay property taxes our entire lifetime, maintain fences and do other maintenence work. But when deer season opens the land is no longer our own. Where are these people who 'think' they can do what they want with our land when it's time to pay the property taxes.
Well, since my strongest language consists of an occasional use of the word 'heck,' it appears I was the right one to do it. :o)
Oh, Lord. Doyle is at the press conference being held now.
This is so horrible!!
watching the presser now on FNC
How you can take such an attitude toward a family or a group of friends that was out enjoying the outdoors on their own private property, and was wiped out by a trespassing poacher, is utterly beyond me. I'm having trouble moderating my rhetoric here, so I'll take a deep breath first.
Okay, saying it nicely: Aside from being a rabid antihunter, a Pharisee, or a white-hater, I can't imagine any other reason for you to take such an attitude. If none of these are true, then please explain to us, what is your problem?
re: Hunting -- If you think that the victims had it coming because God has something against hunting, you're biblically wrong -- hunting was specifically provided for in the kosher laws (Leviticus 17:13)
Regarding your apparent Pharasaic assumption that people are wicked because disaster occurs and kills them -- discuss that first with the souls of 45 million unborn babies, then with Todd Beamer's widow. Then read:
Luke 13:1-5 There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Finally... it's possible that you are one of those blind anti-white racists (perhaps a self-hating white?) who assumes that the property owners were white (probably true in Wisc.), and that therefore the confrontation with the trespassing Hmong poacher somehow *must* have been the whites' fault, because *all* nonwhites are innocent little angels who never do anything wrong and therefore *all* interracial conflicts are the fault of whitey. If you believe this, then, come to Los Angeles...
Ten bucks says that by tomorrow morning the story will be that he opened fire because he felt victimized and threatened by the racism of those Wisconsin yokels.""
Church groups in both Wisconsin and Minnesota have brought hundreds of Hmong refugees over and given them a new life in the USA. The Hmong are having a hard time assimilating into our culture.
The vastly faster rate of reproduction of the Hmong and the gang influences they live by are also creating a problem for the church groups that did what they thought was a kind and Christian thing.
Everyone is losing in this deal, and now one of them went off the edge because he couldn't just help himself to a place to hunt. He paid big bucks to hunt, also, because he is an out of state resident for a Wisconsin deer tag.
Refugee from Cambodia area. Strong tribe with very resiliant Tribal attachments.
"If" the Hmong man was indeed 36 y.o., it's pretty safe to make the assumption that he came to this country as a child. It's not likely he was engaged in warfare in his homeland.
The Hmong in my community were settled here with the assistance of my church and other churches in our little rural town during the early 70's.
We have had no problems with them shooting at us, but the townspeople have problems with their dogs going missing.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.