Laotian Immigrant Blast On 6 Whites Over Hunting Dispute

[Common Sense]

Hunter in US murder rampage says he was shot at first: investigators


HAYWARD, United States (AFP) - The Laotian-born truck driver accused of massacring six members of a deer hunting party in a remote wooded part of Wisconsin, claims he was fired on first, according to court papers.



Chai Vang told investigators that a member of the party opened fire on him, as he was preparing to leave a private estate that he had strayed onto while out hunting in a public forest in Sawyer County, northwest Wisconsin.


Vang said he turned in time to see the man shoot, and crouched down as the bullet whipped past, landing 30 to 40 feet (9 to 12 meters) behind him.


The 36-year-old said he then fired two shots, felling the man, according to papers filed Tuesday as part of a probable cause hearing.


The Hmong immigrant also claimed that members of the party surrounded him and verbally abused him, calling him "chink," and "gook."


But while his account of how Sunday's deadly shooting spree started differs from that of the survivors, his version of how a random encounter between deer hunters escalated into an all-out massacre tallied closely with their version of events.


According to investigators, Vang detailed the rampage in chilling detail, describing how he sprayed other members of the hunting party, some of whom were unarmed, with gunfire.


At one point, he chased down Joey Crotteau, 20, shooting him several times in the back, once at close range, as the young man ran for his life, screaming "Help me. Help me."


Crotteau, whose father Robert also died on Sunday, was unarmed.


Allan Laski, 43, and Jessica Willers, 27, were his next victims. Vang claimed that Laski was armed and preparing to shoot.


Authorities said the pair were unarmed. Both were later listed among the dead.


Vang also acknowledged shooting at a wounded man, shouting:"You're not dead, yet?"


At another point, he reloaded his semi-automatic, SKS assault rifle with five or six more rounds, and turned his reversible jacket inside out, so that the camouflage side faced outwards instead of the high-visibility blaze-orange layer.


The father-of-six finally disappeared into the woods as eight hunters lay bleeding and another half-dozen or so in their party cared for the wounded, authorities said.


A game warden arrested Vang without incident later that day.


At Tuesday's hearing, circuit court judge Norman Yackel ruled that there was probable cause to hold Vang and set his bail at 2.5 million dollars. Yackel also scheduled a court hearing for December 20.


The six killed, the last of whom died late Monday, were part of a group of more than a dozen hunters staying in lodges on wooded property near the town of Meteor about 400 kilometers (250 miles) northwest of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The gathering was an annual tradition that marked the opening weekend of Wisconsin's deer season.

The rampage has shocked the rural communities in this part of Wisconsin, where hunting is not just a strong tradition but a business.

Many hunters come from neighbouring states, and local high school students are known to skip a few days of classes about this time of year.

"It's just surreal," said Linda Levan, the sister of victim Allan Laski. "It's a tragedy that all these individuals are faced with. It's pure tragedy."

In Haugen, residents remembered the six victims with a candlelight vigil and a mass at Holy Trinity Catholic Church late Tuesday.

The incident also raised fears of increased culture clashes between Hmong and other hunters, tensions that have simmered in Wisconsin and neighboring Minnesota for years.

Back in St. Paul, Minnesota, home to a 25,000-strong Hmong community that includes Vang, his wife and children, members of the community braced for a backlash.

Ilean Her, director of the Council of Asian-Pacific Minnesotans, in St. Paul, said she had already received scores of hate mail -- email -- as had other Hmong colleagues in public positions.

"We're afraid it could turn violent," she said, "that Hmong kids might get bullied in school over this."

"Some members of the community are very upset with the media coverage. They feel like it plays up this man's ethnicity and tars us all with the same brush."

[Common Sense]

Apparantly Wisconsin and Minnesota had a influx on Asians after the Vietnam War. Many said they were victims of discrimination by whites.

[George]

So theres still tensions between East Asians and Whites????

[Common Sense]

If wasn't before I'm sure it is now.

[George]

Actually, for your ignorance there has been discrimination against Asian people way before the 1990's. SO of course there were tensions between Whites and Orientals. Except the White people in the United States/Canada have always had the upper advantage= police force, court systems, jail systems, media (newspapers/flyers of hate), and of course the government.

Don't believe me, maybe people should read things outside of their History textbooks at school.

remember Pac? "Aint no Malcolm X in my History Text". I like that one.

[Common Sense]

I would speculate most people has had their time on the opposite end of the racism stick at least once.

[100]

I LIVE INWISCONSIN I SAW IT ON THE NEWS HE’S DONE FOR. HE SAID THEY WERE SHOOTING AT HIM NO ONE WAS THERE BUT HIM AND THE OTHER HUNTERS.

UP NORTH IN WISCONSIN THE POPULATION IS HEAVILY ABSORBED BY WHITES, FEW BLACKS IN APPLETON(SMALL CITY) AND GREEN BAY ALL THOSE HICK TOWNS ARE WHITE.
AND MANY NATIVE AMERICANS TRIBES HAVE LAND UP THERE THIS WHOLE STATE HAS NATIVE AMERICAN NAMES FOR CITIES LAKES ETC BUT ASIANS HAVE ALSO BEEN COMING OUTTA NOWHERE IN MY CITY TOO ON THE NORTHSIDE WHICH IS PREDOMINIATLY BLACK I DON’T KNOW WHY THEY CHOOSE THE NORTH SIDE OF TOWNE AND THE NORWEST WHERE BLACKS MOSTLY ARE BUT IN THE LONG RUN IT MAY START TENSIN BUT THEY DON’T MESS WITH BLACK PEOPLE IN BAD WAYS, OR SOME MAY KEEP TO THEMSELVES.

[Common Sense]

The Asians are just trying to live like everybody else in this world. For some reason Wisconsin tends to be a very popular place for foreigners to move. The Swedish made a move there in the 1800's to farm the land, because farm land in Sweden became crap. The whites you are writing about are probably Swedish descendants. I bet there are many blondes in Wisconsin.

The Hmong community are basically saying' "You have bad apples in all communites." by the way..........We Don't Know Him.

[Invincible]

yes it's always the white men's fault.

[Common Sense]

yes it's always the white men's fault.

Chai Vang told investigators that a member of the party opened fire on him, as he was preparing to leave a private estate that he had strayed onto while out hunting in a public forest in Sawyer County, northwest Wisconsin.

The Hmong immigrant also claimed that members of the party surrounded him and verbally abused him, calling him "chink," and "gook."


If his statements are true....I guess it would be the white man's fault in this case.

[Lonewolf]

. For some reason Wisconsin tends to be a very popular place for foreigners to move.

Its the cheeze i tell ya

[se11]

yes it's always the white men's fault.

Chai Vang told investigators that a member of the party opened fire on him, as he was preparing to leave a private estate that he had strayed onto while out hunting in a public forest in Sawyer County, northwest Wisconsin.

The Hmong immigrant also claimed that members of the party surrounded him and verbally abused him, calling him "chink," and "gook."


If his statements are true....I guess it would be the white man's fault in this case.

i dont understand this case, mabye i misread it or something but i don't get it.

if they had him surrounded, why didn't he kill him their? and if they all surrounded him, how did he manage to kill 6 people? wouldn't as soon as he shoot at them, the rest shoot him down? i really doubt those dozen hicks wouldn't be out shot by one asian.

as for him going on the spree, i don't understand that either. i can see killing them in self-defense, but why go and kill more unarmed people. that would be like a black being shot at by a hispanic and then the black go running around shooting innocent hispanic people.

[Lonewolf]

I do sense that the dude had a back-log of beefs and ill feelings.
Surely none of us were there, and the newspapers can be unforgiving in bad details, but how are you going to claim self defense when you just mowed down a whole group of people?

He has and AK and SPRAYED the group of "HUNTERS" whom took a likely overhead shot at him in a "look down upon" way, I think happened, never thinking that this MAN would come right back at 'em.

But "6 k" is going overboard, if you were to ask me.

[Common Sense]

Vang also acknowledged shooting at a wounded man, shouting:"You're not dead, yet?"
At another point, he reloaded his semi-automatic, SKS assault rifle with five or six more rounds, and turned his reversible jacket inside out, so that the camouflage side faced outwards instead of the high-visibility blaze-orange layer.

I think Vang lost it. I also think he's been harassed before by these people or by other whites in the area. It seems as if he has made a decision of what road he was about to take in life. There was probably some pride issue too. Turning your jacket inside out on the camouflage side signifies, he had nothing else to lose.

Many people have been killed the same way in the inner cities. You figure your gonna "punk" somebody, and most of the time maybe you do. Sometimes the "punk" is packing b/c he just can't take it anymore.

CHINK GOOK CHINK GOOK...GO BACK HOME.

Now your dead. Killed by a punk. I believe that's what happenedto those hunters

[mamlook]

Yeah man I was up in Minneapolis and Detroit and there were hmong all over the place...But yeah they wont be like the native indians up there tho.

Shits crazy tho.

[FLUID]

It's a lot of Laotions where I'm at in Rockford too(1 hr. NW of the Chi & 20 minutes from Wisconsin) And a lot of them young Laotion girls are attracted to black dudes. They even be havin a little black-look.

[George]

Yeah its hard going about day to day being called "Dog eater, Cat eater! Learn to Drive! Chink! Gook! Chinaman!!!!! FOB job stealers!!!!" without finally losing it. Who wouldn't want to get out of a trapped corner of ignorance and racism???

Its just maybe the Asian dude took it way to the next level. Now don't be surprised if the White American government sends him to Death Row. An eye for an eye is probably gonna be in the legal systems mind. Or should i say a life for 6 lives????

[Common Sense]

I agree George. I don't think the white hunters expected the Asian man to go off like that. I bet they assumed he would be quiet and meek and take some abuse.

The next time the hunters will either leave them Asians alone or at least have the gat's cocked.

[Lonewolf]

By any chance does anybody know if he worked at the P.O.

[100]

Yeah its hard going about day to day being called "Dog eater, Cat eater! Learn to Drive! Chink! Gook! Chinaman!!!!! FOB job stealers!!!!" without finally losing it. Who wouldn't want to get out of a trapped corner of ignorance and racism???

Its just maybe the Asian dude took it way to the next level. Now don't be surprised if the White American government sends him to Death Row. An eye for an eye is probably gonna be in the legal systems mind. Or should i say a life for 6 lives????

>>>>NAH THERE IS NO DEATH PENALTY HERE IN WISCONSIN, BUT IF IT HAD BEEN ILLINOIS HE'D BE FRIED, GAS'D OR INJECTED(IF ILLI STILLS HAS THE DEATH PENALTY.

HEY IS HE AN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT?

[Common Sense]

I read he became a citizen. Some American dream huh?????

[blackmanofhonor]

those pigs got what they deserved.When you treat people like shit dont be surprised when they get fed up.those racist rednecks are right where they belong-in a casket.

[blackmanofhonor]

At one point, he chased down Joey Crotteau, 20, shooting him several times in the back, once at close range, as the young man ran for his life, screaming "Help me. Help me."



lol

[DiaBo]

Serve those crackas right for what they did but damn the whites gonna discriminate against the hmongs they should form a gang to protect them selfs from those crackas

[Common Sense]

At one point, he chased down Joey Crotteau, 20, shooting him several times in the back, once at close range, as the young man ran for his life, screaming "Help me. Help me."

It seems like he was extra pissed at him. I wonder if he was the main instigator of the altercation?

You don't chase a man down like that for no apparent reason.

[matsuoka24]

He probably saw the movie Romper Stomper and got pissed.