Thanks for prayers.
News update: Five dead in Wisconsin after hunting dispute erupts into shooting
HAYWARD, Wis. - A dispute among deer hunters over a tree stand in northwestern Wisconsin erupted Sunday in a series of shootings that left five people dead and three injured, officials said.
The alleged gunman, a man from the Twin Cities area, was arrested at about 5:15 p.m. Sunday at the Rusk and Sawyer County line, according to Sawyer County sheriff's officials.
The violence began shortly after a hunting party saw a hunter occupying their tree stand, Sawyer County Chief Deputy Tim Zeigle told KSTP-TV of St. Paul, Minn. A confrontation, and shooting, followed.
One of the shooting victims radioed back to the deer shack for help, he said. When more hunters came to the scene, they also were shot, Zeigle said.
The shootings happened in the town of Meteor in southwestern Sawyer County, County Sheriff James Meier said in a news release. Three people were taken to a local hospital, Meier said.
Melody Hargis, nursing supervisor at St. Joseph's Hospital in Marshfield, said one of the victims, a man, was there in critical condition.
Jennifer Grescowak, director of community relations at Lakeview Medical Center in Rice Lake, said one of the victims, Denny Drew, had surgery and was in serious condition. Another, Lauren Hesebeck, also had surgery and was in fair condition.
Wisconsin's statewide deer gun hunting season started Saturday and lasts for nine days.
Bill Wagner, 72, of Oshkosh, was about two miles away near Deer Lake with a party of about 20 other hunters. He said the incident was "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 dampen 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."