Hayward, Wis. — The St. Paul, Minn., man accused of killing six deer hunters and wounding two others claims he was called racially derogatory names and fired at before he started shooting, a version of events that contradicts statements from one of the surviving hunters.
Court documents filed Tuesday allege that Chai Soua Vang told authorities he was taunted and shot at, then ran through the woods firing at unarmed people, shooting at least one hunter in the back as he fled.
Vang, 36, a Hmong immigrant from Laos and a naturalized U.S. citizen, has not been charged. But documents filed Tuesday by the Sawyer County Sheriff's lead investigator led to his being held on $2.5 million bond.
According to the court documents, the shootings took place after Vang got lost and separated from his own hunting group. He climbed a deer stand -- a platform in a tree used for hunting -- on private property, leading to a confrontation with the landowners and others in a hunting party staying on the land. In an interview Monday with Sheriff investigator Gary Gillis and FBI Agent Ken Mammoser, Vang said one of the owners of the property told him to leave. Vang said he climbed out of the tree and began walking away, then heard five or six hunters arriving on ATVs.
He said the hunters got off the vehicles and surrounded him, cursing, calling him names and using racial slurs, the documents state. Among the other hunters, only Terry Willers, 47, was armed, according to the account.
Vang continued walking and, when he was about 100 feet from the group, turned to see Willers point his rifle at him and fire a shot. Vang, an avid hunter who served in the U.S. Army in 1989, then removed the scope from his rifle and fired two shots at Willers, according to Vang's statement.
Willers fell to the ground while the others ran, with Vang in pursuit and continuing to fire.
After striking five or six of the unarmed hunters, Vang told authorities, he heard one of them call for help on a walkie-talkie, then saw three other people arriving on ATVs. Vang reversed the blaze orange exterior of his coat to its camouflage side and reloaded. He did not shoot, however, because the ATV riders were unarmed, according to the document.
Inspectors survey the shooting scene near a deer stand where six people were killed and two others wounded east of Deer Lake, Wis. Charges had not been filed against 36-year-old Chai Vang, of St. Paul, Minn., as of Tuesday. Vang is accused of opening fire with a semiautomatic assault rifle.
A short time later, he saw another ATV approaching with two people aboard, Vang said.
He ran. After the ATV sped past, it stopped just ahead of him, Vang said. He saw one of the riders remove a rifle from his shoulder.
Vang then fired three or four shots and both people dropped to the ground. Authorities identified them as Allan Laski, 43, of Haugen, Wis.; and Jessica Willers, Terry's Willers' 27-year-old daughter.
One rifle was found at the scene, near the body of Mark Roidt, 28. The three others killed were Robert Crotteau, 42, and his son, Joey, 20, of Haugen, Wis.; and Dennis Drew, 55, of Rice Lake, Wis., who died Monday night.
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