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Location: Jackson, Wisconsin 53037 | ARINETTE, Wisconsin (AP) -- An "accidental meeting" with another hunter led to a Hmong immigrant's death in a wildlife area, a county sheriff said Monday, in an incident that has threatened to re-expose racial tensions in the northwoods.
An autopsy confirmed that the death of Cha Vang, 30, of Green Bay was a homicide, said Marinette County Sheriff Jim Kanikula.
He declined to specify the cause of death but said, "We are in possession of the weapon or weapons involved."
Vang's body was found Saturday in the Peshtigo Harbor Wildlife Area in northern Wisconsin. Deputies arrested 28-year-old James Nichols of Peshtigo that day at a medical center in Marinette after he showed up with a gunshot wound not considered life-threatening.
Nichols is a suspect in Vang's death and is being held for a probation violation as a felon in possession of a firearm, Kanikula said.
"While there is much I would like to tell you, there is much I cannot tell you," Kanikula said at a Monday news conference.
Authorities at the Marinette County jail did not have information Monday night on whether Nichols had a lawyer. A message left at the local public defender's office was not returned.
Vang's death came a little more than two years after Hmong immigrant Chai Soua Vang, 38, of St. Paul, Minnesota, killed six white hunters and injured two in northwestern Wisconsin. He claimed one of them fired in his direction after they shouted racial epithets. He is serving multiple life terms.
Vang is a common name among the Hmong, an ethnic minority group from Southeast Asia. Many have moved into the Midwest.
Even before the 2004 shootings, Hmong hunters claimed they had been harassed, and whites complained that the Hmong do not respect private property.
Kanikula said he did not know whether Vang's death was a hate crime.
Vang and Nichols were using firearms to hunt small game in an area where they had hunted before, Kanikula said. He added that he did not know whether Vang might have been accidentally shot.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may
This is where it says he was small game hunting with a firearm |
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Location: Waukesha Wisconsin | hmmmmmmm............
Shink,
This is scaring me. I just did a search on CNN and read an article.
I found was this quote: “ Nichols, also a licensed hunter, was alone, Steffes said. She couldn't say what he was hunting or whether he had a weapon. A bow-and-arrow deer hunt was also going on at the time, she said.”
Thanks for the reference.
Again, let's all take a deep breath and wait for the facts.
I posted the above articles just to show that it's useless to make any conclusions until the final report comes out.
Edited by Sunshine 1/10/2007 2:58 PM
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Location: Darboy USA | Must be a dozen or more reports out there! Here is one from the AP on the PC's website:
"He turns around and tells the guy that he needs to go to a different spot, not necessarily that he needs to leave the area, but that he was molesting his hunt and scaring the squirrels away," the fiancee said. "Jim said the guy started talking in gibberish that he couldn't understand and then fired at him."
James said Nichols, who was hunting with a 12-gauge shotgun, got hit in the right hand.
One thing is certain, someone was killed which is a sad thing.
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Location: Waukesha Wisconsin | Aaron,
Thanks for the Quotes
I agree that it is a very sad thing.
As I posted earlier it just shows that it's useless to make any conclusions until the final report comes out. |
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Location: Rockford MN | This guy might want a trial in a different State, he has already been proven guilty here! The whole story has yet to come out, and people here have him hung out to dry. Maybe everyone should let some FACTS come out before passing final judgement? Just a thought, but until everyone knows the whole story it's hard to pass judgement on anyone.
I don't hunt anymore, mostly because nothing is safe enough for me! Hunters kill hunters every year, most are killed by carless trigger happy people. If you don't know what it is don't shoot. If you know what it is make sure it's safe to shoot. Respecting the power of these guns has gone by the wayside, now it's about killing something rather than the hunt of it. Don't get me wrong, I see nothing wrong with people wanting to hunt (I enjoyed my time in the woods) It's just the few that don't respect the weapons or others with them that scare the he// out of me!
In any case this is a sad story and yet another "black eye" for us as humans. |
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Location: Jackson, Wisconsin 53037 | Gordy, the only thing I have him guilty on is, as a felon, he shouldn't be carrying a firearm.
As far as the altercation, I have my opinion on it. I don't have him guilty on the killing, we will have to wait until it all comes out. Even then, we won't know the whole truth, because there were no witnesses.
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| A felon with a gun, is a not so uncommon thing. And the fact that he was shot in both hands, tells me that both parties are probably at fault here. They are hinting the cause of death was stabbing, so it's anybody's guess as to what really happened. I have to believe the forensics will tell the story better than the guy, his girlfriend, or the spokesman for the family.
The lack of conscience in people today is disturbing. Basic decency is a thing of the past, and we'll never get it back. It is a scary world we live in.
Edited by Shep 1/11/2007 7:50 AM
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| One of the most gut wrenching facts of my life has been the friction and animosity surrounding the Hmong and there adopted homeland here in the US. Why?
In the mid 1960s thousands of Hmong were recruited, supplied and supported by the US as soldiers in their native region in Laos and Vietnam. Hundreds became comrades in arms to our early Special Forces teams... And, many more aided downed American Flyers and lost soldiers. Many Americans, me included, owe their lives to these people.
I wish there was some hope of the friction fading away and the contribution that they made to this country long before their immigration could be highlighted and remembered.
Just a hope... |
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| I'm sure the fact that he is shot in both hands with a 22 will be a determining factor to see how this happened. If he actually self inflicted the wound or not. I could understand being shot in the hand if he grabbed the end of the barrel in self defense but not likely for each hand? There more than likely will have to be a recreation of the act and it should be easy to tell if the wounds are from close range or far away. I do believe a convicted felon can bow hunt although initial reports say he was hunting with a shotgun. Either way he had a gun as well and if a confrontation took place, it appears so far that neither shot in self defense......or did they? If it is determined to be self inflicted for whatever reason it still does not explain the cause and acts that took place. Speculation is all there is until a trial takes place or you are privy to the interviews and investigation. IT SUCKS ALL AROUND. Another cause for the anti's to fight and we as sportsman have to defend ourselves again. The language barrier has been a topic as well as the fact that he obtained a license.
Good Luck
Tyee
Edited by tyee 1/11/2007 2:19 PM
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Location: Essexville, MI./Saginaw Bay. | I'm always more then a little confused when I hear of things like this. Personally, I'm never at better behavior and more understanding then when around a bunch of guys (or one on one with a stranger in the woods) and everybody concered is holding a loaded High powered rifle or shotgun. And my own (patients and understanding metor) has improved 10 fold since I got my CCL license, knowing my responsibility to keep it civil. But what in the He[[ is going on these days.  I hope they never start sharpening the tip's of fishing rods.
Edited by walleye express 1/11/2007 2:57 PM
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Location: Waukesha Wisconsin | Very well said Greg. |
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| Wow, the speculation on this case. Very few facts have been let out, but we have Nichols already guilty, he self inflicted the gunshot wounds to his hands, Vang is a completely innocent victom, and we owe the Hmoung community special treatment because of their support in Viet Nam more than 30 years ago.
I'm waiting to see all that the DA has on this case. With wounds to both hands, I'll bet everyone figures two shots, eh? How about they came about in a defensive posture, holding his hands out in front of him, and a single shot caused the wounds? As for being able to use a knife after being shot, I would think this is very possible. I guess maybe you can bring a knife to a gun fight. I wouldn't be surpised if the only thing Nichols is charged/convicted of is a felon with a firearm.
But then again, I might be totally off base. |
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Location: Elgin, Illinois | Shep,
I prefer the term "understanding", rather than "special treatment". Their presence here was not really a "choice". They emigrated here because to have not done so would have led to their "extinction". Many of those that did stay have vanished.
For some of us, 30 years ago in Vietnam is as real as this past Christmas is to you. I have my own private reason to be forever grateful to them. So, yes, I do believe that the aid that they gave me and four other Marines does deserve my lifelong gratitude. And, by some extension, we were American Marines, serving our country, so this country does need to acknowledge that. That there are problems, I acknowledge. As I said, I wish there weren't and I wish I had a way of helping. But, this is neither the place nor the time to debate this further. I just do not want Mr. Vang "demonized" because of his ethnicity. If he was an agressor or in the wrong that is the fact that should be emphasized, not his ethnicity.
Edited by hgmeyer 1/12/2007 10:02 AM
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| Greg,
I was of age at that time, so I fully understand what went on over there. I was lucky, I was in Germany for my overseas duty. All I'm saying is, as usual, there is a rush to judgement. I'm going to wait and see what the facts are. As I said, the forensics will tell a lot. |
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