The deer hunter accused of killing six hunters and wounding two others in the woods of northern Wisconsin is believed to have resided in the Toledo area as a youth and attended Jones Junior High School.
Chai Vang, 36, of St. Paul, who authorities said opened fire after a dispute over the use of a hunting stand on private property, is listed as a student at the South Toledo school during the 1982-1983 school year, according to Toledo Public School documents.
His first name is spelled differently - "Chia" - in the school's yearbook for that year.
However, Willie Braggs, a social studies teacher at Jones, said he remembers Mr. Vang as a student.
"He was in my class in 1982 and he seemed like a pretty good student," Mr. Braggs said. "It was a real shock [to hear of the shootings]."
A wave of Laotian refugees was brought to the Toledo area in 1979 and the early 1980s. They were resettled here with the help of church groups and other local sponsors. It was not clear yesterday when Mr. Vang's family came to Toledo or when they left.By 1994, only about 35 Hmong families remained in the area, largely because many families moved to other cities where there were more jobs available and larger concentrations of others in their ethnic group.
About 24,000 Hmong live in St. Paul.
Mr. Vang was arrested Sunday about four hours after the shootings as he emerged from the woods with his unloaded SKS 7.62mm semiautomatic rifle.
Mr. Vang told investigators yesterday that he began firing after some of the victims called him racially derogatory names as he left the tree stand area and a shot was fired at him.
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