By Dan Sullivan
Catholic Herald

Slain hunters mourned

SUPERIOR -- For many, hunting is a time honored tradition in the northwoods of Wisconsin. However on Nov. 21, this tradition turned into a nightmare when gunfire killed six people.

According to initial information provided by the Sawyer County Sheriff's Department in Hayward, five people were reported to be fatally wounded after a confrontation in the woods of Meteor Township, located in southwestern Sawyer County, within the Diocese of Superior. A sixth man later died and two others were hospitalized.

Chai Vang, 36, a Hmong immigrant residing St. Paul, Minn., is the suspect arrested in connection with the shootings. Vang is being held in the Sawyer County Jail on $2.5 million bail,

Because of its limited resources, the Sawyer County District Attorney's office requested the state's assistant attorneys general office to prosecute this case.

According to the Probable Cause Statement and Judicial Determination released by the State of Wisconsin, Circuit Court, Sawyer County Nov. 23, Vang allegedly wandered onto private property owned by Terry Willers and Robert Crotteau and occupied a tree stand.

Willers asked Vang to leave and used a walkie talkie to advise the rest of his hunting party, who were in a cabin on the property, of the situation. More hunters arrived and there was a verbal exchange.

Lauren Hesebeck, one of the survivors, said that Vang started to walk away then turned around and started shooting. One of the victims returned fire but did not hit Vang. Vang pursued and continued shooting at the victims as they tried to hide or flee.

More help was summoned from the cabin by walkie talkie and, according to Hesebeck, more shots were fired.

A member of the property owners' party wrote the back tag number of the shooter in the dirt on an ATV.

Vang was later apprehended by a Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources warden Vang still had his rifle when he was apprehended and one rifle was found at the scene of the shootings.

According to the Probable Cause Statement, Vang gave a different version of events in interviews by the Sawyer County investigator. He said he had been hunting on public land and got lost and did not know he was on private land. He said that the group of hunters surrounded him and used racial slurs and profanity. He further said that a member of the party pointed a rifle at him and fired the first shot. Vang admited to shooting the hunters -- chasing them as they were trying to flee and calling for help. He further admited to shooting two additional people who arrived to help the victims.

In a press release from the State of Wisconsin Department of Justice, Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager announced that a criminal complaint in the Vang case was expected to be filed Nov. 29. An initial court appearance was scheduled for Nov. 30.

As a result of the incident, Robert Crotteau, 42, and his son, Joey Crotteau, 20; Al Laski, 43; Mark Roidt, 28; Jessica Willers, 27, and Dennis Drew, 45, were killed.

Willers' father, Terry Willers, and Lauren Hesebeck, were hospitalized from injuries sustained in the shooting.

All six of the victims were Catholic. Five of the deceased were from the Birchwood, Haugen, Dobie parish cluster. The Crotteaus and Laski belonged to Holy Trinity Parish, Haugen; Drew and Roidt were parishioners at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Dobie and the Willers family are member of St. Joseph Parish in Rice Lake.

Bishop Raphael M. Fliss said this incident is a "horrendous tragedy for all of northern Wisconsin." From the moment he heard news of the shootings, Fliss said, he started to pray.

"I began to pray for everyone involved, especially for the victims and their families," he said.

To assist in the grieving process, prayer services were held. Individuals joined together, Nov. 22, for a candlelight vigil at Bluegill Park in Birchwood. Deacon Harvey Drost organized another memorial service at Holy Trinity Church in Haugen, Nov. 23.

"We continue to pray for the whole community with what has gone on here," said Fr. David Oberts, pastor of the Birchwood, Haugen, Dobie cluster.

The service in Birchwood was organized by the Rev. Paul Oman, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Birchwood. It included prayer, silent meditation, Scripture readings and a candle lighting ceremony.

"It was opened to the entire community," Oman said. "The spiritual component of any tragedy needs to be addressed in order for people to have some kind of resolve. This whole tragedy makes little or no sense."

Oman said the question of why the incident took place remains.

"That question will continue on and on," he said. "We may never be able to answer why it happened."

There is concern over the well-being of community residents.

"The shooting will impact this community in various ways for some time," Oman said.

"I heard someone refer to it as Birchwood's own Sept. 11. It's a real trying time for all of us. The hurt runs deep through a small town."

Oman said he told those present at his service that whenever there is a tragedy people need to join together.

"We gain strength from the support of one another and from the prayers for the families who have been victimized by this," he said. "A community has to be reassured that God will see them through this."

Residents in and around Rice Lake, Oberts said, have come together to show support to families involved.

"It's true in all communities, friends and family gather and try to be a support in this grief," he said.

Bea Jarocki, a parishioner of St. Joseph Parish in Rice Lake, said people are in a state of shock by the tragedy and grieve for the families involved.

"Being that we are a small community, we know them all," Jarocki said. "They're all good people."

Just days following the shooting, Oberts said, individuals remain in an initial stage of grief.

"Everybody in the community seems to be talking, " he said.

"In all my years as a priest, I've never experienced a shooting or hunting death."

As a hunter himself, Oberts said, he has never heard of any similar shootings, on a scale like the one that unfolded in Sawyer County, taking place in the woods during hunting season.

"In all my years of hunting and reading outdoor magazines, I have never heard or read news of something like this happening before," he said.

Editor's note: A fund has been established called the Rice Lake Hunters Survivors Fund. Donations can be mailed to Dairy State Bank, 16 S. Main St., Rice Lake, Wis. 54868.

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© Superior Catholic Herald, 2004