Authorities hold suspect who allegedly partied rather than finding help
Sept. 30th
LA CROSSE, Wis. - Seth Hammes was filming in the woods when his camcorder recorded the crack of gunshots, the 17-year-old"s screams and the voice of the alleged shooter, promising help that never came.
Authorities say they might never have learned what happened to Hammes, who later died in the woods.
"But right next to him was the videotape," Monroe County Sheriff Pete Quirin said Thursday. "That"s when we knew we had a homicide on our hands."
After viewing and listening to the tape, police tracked down 24-year-old Russell Schroeder, who now faces charges of reckless homicide and reckless injury. Schroeder was being held on $250,000 bond. If convicted, he faces up to 85 years in prison.
Family members said Hammes and two of his friends had gone bow-hunting Saturday morning in the woods near Little Falls, about 35 miles northeast of La Crosse.
Hammes put down his bow and picked up his camcorder that afternoon.
According to the criminal complaint, he was shot in the pelvis and then the heart. His camcorder fell to the ground but caught the sound of the shots and his own screams.
Suspect allegedly partied after shooting
The tape shows a person Quirin identified as Schroeder in a nearby field, telling Hammes he would call for help on his cell phone. He then said he couldn"t find a signal but promised to go get help.
Instead, authorities say, Schroeder went to a birthday party, home to play video games and then to his job as a custodian at the Army"s Fort McCoy near Sparta.
Schroeder didn"t call anyone because he was scared he would get in trouble, the complaint said. He told police he thought he was shooting at a squirrel until he heard Hammes scream.
After family and friends reported Hammes missing, police used bloodhounds to find his body in the woods that night.
Investigators initially believed he had just died in the woods " there was no blood to indicate foul play, and he had been shot with a .22-caliber rifle, which left only small wounds, Quirin said. Then authorities saw the camcorder tape.
Hammes" family gathered at his grandparents" home in La Crosse after Hammes" funeral on Thursday.
Ed Hammes said his nephew loved to tinker with the family"s lawn mowers and research pyrotechnics. He hung out with the La Crosse Skyrockers fireworks club, which produces the city"s New Year"s Eve fireworks.
"He was shy for the most part, but he"d go out of his way to help you," Ed Hammes said.
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A very sad story. I hope this guy never gets out. How does a 200 pound person look like a squirrel?[:@]
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I had read that story in the paper also. I was kind of shocked to think if this had been an accidental shooting as Schroeder claimed, then there might have been some minor consequences but nothing like this Schroeder is facing now. The other things that bothers me. Schroeder claims he was shooting at a squirrel. Granted I have had squirrels in a tree near me and even with me when bow hunting, but you would have thought someone with a camcorder on, and a squirrel that close, would have taped that as well. Schroeder not only is shooting at a squirrel no one can see, but shoots twice. Then after he realizes what he has done, he lies to the injured Seth Hammes about a phone signal. Tries no emergency first aid or even checks on the person. Had Schroeder checked Hammes, he might have seen the camcorder and had the common sense to at least take the tape. Then after leaving, he tells no one and goes about his normal activity, "because he was scared he'd get in trouble." The point of the fact is, he already was in trouble. He only intensified his problems by refusing to take responsibility. I am not sure why this person refused to help someone he shot. His actions are inexcusable. He deserves everything the law can do to him.
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"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, a total wreck, screaming Yahoo, with a big smile on your face."
That man should be put in prison for life for not getting help, and then he thought that a person was a squirrel, what the H*** was he thinking. those are the kinds of people that make good hunters like use look bad.
I talked to the Principal at Logan High School where Hammes went to school (I used to coach there). He said Hammes and his buddies were good kids, avid outdoorsmen, and that Schroeder was some piece of trash from the Milwaukee area.
Wisconsin Bow Hunter Shot
