Vang, a six-year veteran of the California National Guard, shot eight people while he was trespassing upon a hunting group in northern Wisconsin on November 21, 2004; six were killed and two were wounded.
Vang, who lived in Saint Paul, Minnesota at the time of the shootings, is imprisoned at the Anamosa State Penitentiary, as of 2006.
During the Laotian Civil War, Vang spent most of his childhood in a refugee camp in Thailand before he and his siblings relocated to the United States in 1980 and settled in California.
He served from 1989 to 1995, during which time he was decorated with a Good Conduct medal and attained a sharpshooter qualification badge (mid-level, above the rank of Marksman).
[citation needed] Vang's second marriage ended after he allegedly nearly choked his wife to death for gambling away $3,000.
[7][8] According to Terry Willers' testimony, "As Bob got back on the radio and asked me where he was at and I said, uh, he's heading south down on the food plot right now.
Lauren Hesebeck, a surviving victim, stated "Bob had said I'm going to go talk to him to find out who he is, why he's there, and make sure he doesn't, you know, knows that he's on private property and that he's not welcomed there.
Vang raised his rifle in one smooth, continuous sweeping motion as he circled right, kneeled, and aimed at Terry Willers.
Vang instantly turned toward the men on their machines and shot Roidt; the round killed him before he fell, as his ATV, still in gear, moved slowly forward.
As the Crotteaus fled in fear, Vang fired three shots at Hesebeck at close range while chasing him around the ATV.
Vang sprinted to cut the corner to the trail, to close the gap, and shot him in the lower back at about 65 yards.
Vang, after reversing his blaze-orange jacket to its camo side, hid near a curve in the trail when he heard the ATV approaching.
[6][15] Vang fled the scene on foot and discarded his remaining ammunition, later stating that he did not want to shoot anyone else.
According to subsequent oral statements by Vang, one of the local hunters, Terry Willers, took the first shot at him from about 100 feet (30 m) away, and therefore the shootings were in self-defense.
Additional forensic analysis of Willers' gun was not performed by the local law enforcement which caused the court to take a break from trial.
Vang stated that race was a factor, alleging that during the verbal dispute, some of the local hunters yelled out racial slurs at him such as "chink" and "gook".
Hesebeck also admitted that he told law enforcement that Robert Crotteau had problems with trespassers in the past, specifically citing Hmong hunters, who often travel to Wisconsin from Minnesota to hunt.
Though the term does not necessarily have a racial connotation, the defense argued that it did, due to the fact that Willers and the others did not know at the time that Vang was from Minnesota.
[18][19] The trial of Chai Soua Vang began Saturday, September 10, 2005, at the Sawyer County Courthouse in Hayward.
Vang told the jury he feared for his life and began firing only after another hunter's shot nearly hit him.