Another hunting related shooting in WI

[bnhcomputing]

Remember Vang? Well here we go again, and this time it"™s whitey shooting whitey.

SPARTA, Wis. "” Russell Robert Schroeder III said nothing during the 10 minutes he sat in Judge Steven Abbott's courtroom Tuesday.

But Monroe County authorities said it was Schroeder's voice that led them to charge the 24-year-old with first-degree reckless homicide and first-degree reckless injury in the Saturday shooting death of La Crosse teenager Seth Hammes.

Hammes was unarmed and videotaping the woods near Little Falls, Wis., where his family and friends planned to bow hunt this season, when he was shot twice Saturday between 4 and 4:30 p.m., According to the criminal complaint filed Tuesday.

The camera continued recording as the 17-year-old Logan High School senior lay wounded in the woods, crying out in pain.

Schroeder, who lives on adjacent land but was trespassing on private property when the shooting occurred, told authorities he saw movement and fired his .22-caliber rifle, then lost track of what he had seen and fired a second shot.

He thought he was shooting at an animal until he heard Hammes scream. Schroeder then went to the wounded teen and told him he had a cell phone and would call for help, according to the complaint.

But he never made that call, Monroe County District Attorney Dan Cary said. Instead, Schroeder went back to a birthday party he had attended earlier in the day, went home to play video games and then went to work at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, according to the complaint.

Schroeder told authorities he didn't call 911 because he was scared he would get in trouble for what he did, according to the complaint.

Family and friends of Hammes called authorities at 8:05 p.m. Saturday when they couldn't find the teenager. With the help of search dogs, Detective Jeff Sullivan said they found Hammes slumped against a tree between 9:30 and 10 p.m., with little visible bleeding. When they viewed the video "” which contained mainly audio sounds and few images "” Hammes was heard saying he had been shot in the side.

"It was pretty eerie," said Sullivan, of the Monroe County Sheriff's Department.

"It's pretty obvious he's in pain, and he goes into shock pretty quickly," Cary added. "There is just a brief discussion with the defendant about getting help."

Medical Examiner Toni Eddy-Ballman said preliminary autopsy results revealed one bullet entered Hammes' shoulder, clipped a lung and punctured an artery, leading to massive internal bleeding. The other bullet passed through Hammes' side, grazed his pelvis and perforated his bladder. Both shots were fired while Hammes was still alive.

She was not sure if immediate medical help would have saved Hammes but said assistance could have given him a chance for survival.

Tears coursed down the cheeks of family and friends of Hammes who were in court Tuesday and small gasps were heard as specifics of Saturday's shooting were presented.

Abbott set bond at $250,000. In asking for a high bond, Cary said Schroeder recently took a hunter's safety course that included how to handle emergency situations. He has only lived in the area a year and had no family, making him a flight risk, Cary added.

Public defender Patricia O'Neil argued for a lower amount, pointing out Schroeder's fiance lives in the area, he has a job as a Fort McCoy custodian and has cooperated with authorities.

"What Mr. Cary has described is a tragic accident that has now been made into a crime," O'Neil said. "(Schroeder) shot at what he thought was a squirrel with a .22-caliber rifle, the appropriate gun for that animal. The fact that he hit a human being ... is tragic but it's still an accident."

24 years old. Recent Hunter Ed graduate, and the first thing he kills is a human. This happened less than an hour from my home. I hunt private land in Monroe County also. Trespassing was the initial crime for both the Vang and Schroeder. I have said it before, and I will continue to say it, WI needs to add some serious teeth to the trespass law.

It"™s too bad we don"™t have the death penalty here; both Vang and this guy should get fried!

Turns out the victim in this case is the grandson of an ex conservation warden.

[m.t.hands]

It"™s too bad we don"™t have the death penalty here; both Vang and this guy should get fried!

ain't it the truth[:@]

He thought he was shooting at an animal until he heard Hammes scream.

24 years old. Recent Hunter Ed graduate, and the first thing he kills is a human

what is one of the first rules of firearm safety?????? hello, be sure of your target, this needless crap makesmeso bad, here a few years ago a man shot his own son while his own son and grandson were walking across a field, i cannot fathom this happening but what could somebody in this mindset be thinking, if they can't distinguish animals from humans or anything else they don't need to be in the woods period.....

[Deleted User]

[Deleted by Admins]

[longrifle1000]

Makes you stop and think every time you go out in the woods. You never know if someone like this will be out their. A few years ago, not too far from here, a father shot his son in the head. He thought he was shooting at a turkey. The young man never stood a chance. He was shot at a whopping 25 yards. These stories always make me shake my head.

Be safe out their.

[uncle matt]

Yes, RULE #1. POSITIVELY IDENTIFY YOUR TARGET.

Now, this is a very sad story to hear. Especially going into deer season for so many.

Very, very sad to hear of the senseless loss of another outdoorsman, who was out in the woods, doing the right thing, studing his game, trying to learn their habits, tring to learn their movements, and trying to understand his game.

So very, very, very sad that this loss was at the hand of another outdoorsman.

Let's not jump to judgement that this individual INTENTIONALLY shot this other fella. Let's not get cheap here. From what is posted here it was a mistake to fire at an unidentified target. Panic seems to have ensued, which caused the shooter to not make the call for help. (I AM NOT DEFENDING THIS SHOOTER FOR HIS ACTIONS OF THE SHOOTING OR AFTER THE SHOOTING)

This is a different situation from the Vang incident. The only similarity is that these two incidents occured in WI.

I would also like to add that I think that anyone who respond to this post after me remember that this post is put in by a rather newbie. Who, for some reason or another, decides that it is necessary to note that it is a "whitey-shooting-whitey" incident this time around. I have to question why the poster feels that this is important. I cannot conclude anything other than the poster wishes to cast this as a racist thing - not a hunter issue.

I would think a prudent person could see that terms such as "whitey" are just as derogatory as terms such as ni&&er, ch!nk, spi(, etc..

I believe the reason the poster immediately tries to relate this "whitey-shooting-whitey" incident to the Vang incident is like most of the media..........ride on the back of others misery or notiriority.

To try and turn such an unfortunate and terrible incident such as this into your own avenue to racism is pretty pathetic.

Take the racist card somewhere else.

[mr-pirk]

Schroeder then went to the wounded teen and told him he had a cell phone and would call for help, according to the complaint.

But he never made that call, Monroe County District Attorney Dan Cary said. Instead, Schroeder went back to a birthday party he had attended earlier in the day, went home to play video games and then went to work at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, according to the complaint.

There is just no excuse for that from a 24 year old, I don't care how little hunting experaince he had.

Went back to a party and then played video games, all the while knowing a fellow was most likely dieing.


Thanks
Mr-Pirk

[uncle matt]

Like I said, I don't defend his actions, but he's not doing what Vang did.

There was no confrontation beforehand.

[m.t.hands]

Let's not jump to judgement that this individual INTENTIONALLY shot this other fella. Let's not get cheap here. From what is posted here it was a mistake to fire at an unidentified target. Panic seems to have ensued, which caused the shooter to not make the call for help. (I AM NOT DEFENDING THIS SHOOTER FOR HIS ACTIONS OF THE SHOOTING OR AFTER THE SHOOTING)

matt i see your point, but reading these stories year after year really makes me wonder what could possibly be going on in someones head that they would shoot w/o knowing what there target is, do they not understand it could be a "PERSON", do they not care what they are killing, it could be an out-of-season animal that they are killing, or heaven forbid a tresspasser[:@], its almost like shoot and go see what it was i killed, i just don't get it. last night after reading the post i tried to find the story i mentioned earlier of the father shooting his son while the son and grandson were walking across a field. i was amazed at the number of father and sons shooting incedents, i mean i figured there would be a few father-in-law/son-in-law accidents, but after looking thru 10 pages i gave up, in my opinion 1 is toooo many[:@]...

i really am having a hard time understanding the "after the incedent" i guess it would be similar to a hit and run driver but, i could never live with myself if i had done this and let that young boy die[&o], not knowing if i could have made a difference or not, i'm glad it is a burden i have never had to face

[bnhcomputing]

Mat:

You are right, there was a better way to word this, racism was not my intent. I should have said, "œCriminal shoots hunter again."�

Consider, most experienced hunters would have difficulty in putting two lethal shots into an animal. This fella did exactly that, and the target was moving. Squirrel hunting was the only game season open at that time; he mistook a human for a squirrel, he owned neighboring property, but still felt the need to trespass.

So my point was that if you TRESPASS, you are a criminal. As land prices and taxes skyrocket, more and more people will start to defend their property and this will lead to additional confrontations.

Passed hunter ed, and then shoots someone immediately after. It"™s stories like these give ammunition to the anti hunter / gun control groups.

As to the similarities:

Vang trespassed; therefore he was already committing a criminal act before the shooting, same in this case. Vang was lethally accurate, same with this case. Vang didn"™t try to get help, same with this case. Vang would have gone home, ate dinner, and felt no remorse, had he not gotten caught, this is exactly what this guy did.

I don"™t buy the panic ensued BS. If I panic, I run! This guy didn"™t run he went to a birthday party and then to work, like nothing was wrong. His attitude changed only AFTER LEO got hold of him.

I don"™t know about other states, but it looks like hunting is becoming an extremely dangerous outdoor sport here in WI.

[North Texan]

This again makes me wonder about the effectiveness of hunter education. Sitting in a classroom looking at pictures just isn't a substitute for being out in the woods hunting. When a person sees movement and the adrenaline starts flowing, it takes discipline to keep from making a bad decision.

With that said, this guys morals are obviously non-existent. Anyone with any hint of a conscience might have panicked and fled, but PARTYING AND PLAYING VIDEO GAMES!!![:@][:@][:@][:@][:@][:@][:@] This guys only regret was being caught.