The shooting deaths of six hunters in northwestern Wisconsin has prompted a complex set of reactions - perhaps nowhere more than in the Twin Cities Hmong community. The alleged shooter, Chai Vang, is a Hmong immigrant who lives in St. Paul. When the first reports of the incident came out, local Hmong leaders cautioned against making Vang's ethnicity an issue.

But officials have since released Vang's statement in which he claims he fired on the other hunters after they taunted him with racial slurs and shot at him first. That version of events has diminished hopes of dismissing racial aspects of the case and its impact.