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5 killed, 3 injured in dispute over deer stand
HoustonChronicle.com ^ | Nov. 22, 2004 | AP

Posted on 11/22/2004 5:31:35 AM PST by Max Combined

1 arrested after hunters find a man in their spot and shooting ensues

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 others injured, officials said.

Jake Hodgkinson, a deputy at the county jail, identified the suspect as Chai Vang but would give no additional details. Several news organizations in Minneapolis-St. Paul reported the suspect was 36-years-old and from St. Paul.

The incident happened when two hunters were returning to their rural cabin on private land in Sawyer County and saw the suspect in one of their tree stands, County Chief Deputy Tim Zeigle said. A confrontation and shooting followed.

It's not known who shot first, Zeigle said.

Both men were wounded and one of them radioed back to the cabin. Other hunters responded and were shot, he said. Some of the victims may have shot back at the suspect, Zeigle said.

The suspect was ``sniping'' at the victims with a SKS assault-style rifle, Zeigle said. He was ``chasing after them and killing them,'' he said.

The dead included four males, including a teenage boy, and a woman, Zeigle said. The man who radioed for help was not fatally wounded. Some of the victims were shot more than once.

All five were dead when officers arrived, he said.

Authorities found two bodies near each other and the other three were scattered around the area, which is near Town of Meteor in southwestern Sawyer County. Two people who stayed in the cabin emerged safely after the shootings.

The suspect, who did not have a compass, got lost in the woods and two other hunters, not knowing the man was being sought in the shootings, helped him find his way out, Zeigle said. When he emerged from the woods, a Department of Natural Resources officer recognized the deer license on his back, given to police by a victim, Zeigle said.

The man was out of bullets when they arrested him, Zeigle said.

One of the injured hunters was in critical condition at St. Joseph's Hospital. Another was listed in serious condition and the third was in fair condition, both at Lakeview Medical Center.

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.''

The incident won't stop 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.''


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; US: Wisconsin
KEYWORDS: banglist; deerstand; hunting; vang; wihunters
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``dyed-in-wool hunters'' or died in wool hunters.
1 posted on 11/22/2004 5:31:35 AM PST by Max Combined
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To: Max Combined

Need details re: what tripped this guy's mental trigger.


2 posted on 11/22/2004 5:33:58 AM PST by sarasota
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To: Max Combined

Ok, he's a complete *psycho*. I hope Wisconsin has the death penalty.


3 posted on 11/22/2004 5:33:59 AM PST by ahayes
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To: sarasota

If he's hunting down and killing two men, a teenage boy, and a woman I'd say he had a hair-trigger to begin with. I can see a person shooting someone in an argument, but shooting and killing one man, wounding another, and then shooting the people who came to help is completely bizarre!


4 posted on 11/22/2004 5:36:37 AM PST by ahayes
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To: Max Combined

I don't think the killer would have faired so well at the club I belong to. I hope he gets toasted.


5 posted on 11/22/2004 5:36:47 AM PST by Conspiracy Guy (Kevin Sites is a coward and a terrorist sympathizer.)
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To: sarasota

I heard a report on Fox & Friends that said the guy who killed the people did not understand English.


6 posted on 11/22/2004 5:38:22 AM PST by mware
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To: Max Combined
The suspect was ``sniping'' at the victims with a SKS assault-style rifle

I read about this on a hunting board yesterday. At no point (and even at the new sources cited there) did I see anything about this "SKS assault-style rifle". Of course this will get major media play - not because the guy was a luny hot-head, but because he used a so-called "assault rifle". After all, there is no legitimate purpose for owning one of those evil "assault rifles". This incident has nothing do do with what style of rifle he used, it's that he was a luny in someone else's deer stand who decided to murder other hunters over the whole thing. He deserves the death penalty. Must be another attempt to re-open the "Assault Weapon Ban" coming up soon. This could then be a trophy case to use in their push. It's just unfortunate that none of these other hunters had the balls (and the shooting ability) to take this punk out when he started blasting. I would take one scoped deer rifle over an SKS any day. From 200 yds, the deer rifle has a far greater advantage. And this is all from someone who has carried a SKS while deer hunting. It's not my primary, but it sure is a lot more flexible when walking out a thicket/heavy cover. My .270 with big scope just doesn't cut it in those conditions.

7 posted on 11/22/2004 5:39:01 AM PST by TheBattman (Islam - the cult of Satan)
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To: ahayes

I dunno, the folks in WI are pretty down to earth except of course in Madison, which is the San Francisco of the mid west.


8 posted on 11/22/2004 5:39:10 AM PST by HamiltonJay ("You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.")
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To: Max Combined

No mention that the perp is a Hmong tribesman imported from Viet Nam to live on welfare.


9 posted on 11/22/2004 5:41:29 AM PST by E. Pluribus Unum (Drug prohibition laws help fund terrorism.)
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To: TheBattman

I don't know anything about guns or hunting but I heard on the news early this morning that it was a deer rifle with a scope. Some idiot is trying to spin this into a gun ban by saying it was an assault rifle.


10 posted on 11/22/2004 5:42:35 AM PST by tuffydoodle
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To: mware; TexKat
I heard a report on Fox & Friends that said the guy who killed the people did not understand English.


Well, I guess that answers my question.

I wonder if the killer spoke English?
102 posted on 11/21/2004 8:00:23 PM EST by OXENinFLA

11 posted on 11/22/2004 5:44:50 AM PST by OXENinFLA
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To: ahayes

As a former Wisconsin resident, I can tell you it doesn't.


12 posted on 11/22/2004 5:45:43 AM PST by libstripper
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To: Max Combined

If he'd only hunted by crawling on his stomach, al la John Kerry, this never would have happened.


13 posted on 11/22/2004 5:45:46 AM PST by Tijeras_Slim
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
No mention that the perp is a Hmong tribesman imported from Viet Nam to live on welfare

Perhaps that's because they come from the hills of Laos. But, you got your bitter sentiment in, and that's all that counts around these here parts.

14 posted on 11/22/2004 5:46:34 AM PST by Barlowmaker
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To: Max Combined
The most likely outcome from this murderous rampage is that the University of Wisconsin-Madison will endow a Chai Vang Chair. After all, Chai is just a misunderstood young man who has his whole life ahead of him. We need to understand his inner anguish and pain. Society has not been kind to Chai, and even if he has lashed out at his societal oppressors, that's no reason to turn our backs on this gentle creature of God!

Anticipate the entire campus to erupt in Free Chai rallies. He'll be on Larry King with Mark Geragos defending. France will offer him free medical care. Canada will offer safe haven from extradition if he can just be slipped across the border!

I smell movie rights with Oliver Stone. A "Chai for Governor movement will break out. Alex Baldwin and Susan Sarandon will pledge to move to France if Chai isn't released!

I think you get the picture. Personally, I'd be more than happy to pull the switch and fry him to a golden brown.

15 posted on 11/22/2004 5:47:46 AM PST by Doc Savage (...because they stand on a wall, and they say nothing is going to hurt you tonight, not on my watch!)
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To: ahayes

Nope- WAAAAY TOO LIBERAL in their legislature.


16 posted on 11/22/2004 5:50:00 AM PST by ridesthemiles (ridesthemiles)
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To: mware

Hmmmmm.


17 posted on 11/22/2004 5:52:00 AM PST by sarasota
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To: TheBattman
This incident has nothing do do with what style of rifle he used,

No kidding! Perhaps the leftist media would be happier if they 'perp had used 5 gallons of gasoline and a Bic lighter to kill? Or maybe a claw hammer?

18 posted on 11/22/2004 5:56:26 AM PST by Thermalseeker
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To: TheBattman

I'm afraid they probably didn't know what they were getting into. I don't know what the wounded man managed to communicate over the radio, but if they'd had the full picture I don't think they would have brought the woman and teenage boy along, but sent them to call the police. I think they didn't know that they were walking into an ambush. Plus even if they had understood the danger an average person would be slow to walk into a situation and shoot someone without first seeing themselves or others threatened. More likely they tried to apprehend him and made themselves targets.

It says they think that the hunters might have returned fire, but unfortunately they missed. The story would have had a much more satisfactory ending if one had put him down.


19 posted on 11/22/2004 5:56:29 AM PST by ahayes
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To: Max Combined
For the curious, and "Non Assault Rifle Aware" amongst you, this is what an SKS looks like.


Unless you alter the magazine with an aftermarket part (which is QUITE easy to do!), it holds 10 rounds of 7.62 x 39mm Russian cartridges. It's roughly equivalent to the Winchester .30-30.
20 posted on 11/22/2004 5:57:52 AM PST by hiredhand ( "Pudge the Indestructible Kitty" lives at - http:/www.justonemorefarm.com)
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