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The gunfire started around 8:30 that night, after sunset but before it got pitch dark. The explosions followed.
For the next three hours on Aug. 7, as night set in across the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, at least a half-dozen rapid-fire volleys of gunshots echoed across Basswood Lake, punctuated by booming bangs of what Curt Yess said sounded like dynamite.
Yess, his adult daughter and her boyfriend had canoed to the Canada border lake to camp for several days. They paddled out the next morning, possibly never to return to the BWCAW again. Authorities are expected to charge up to six Ely-area residents in the case.?When we first heard the motor [from the shooting suspects? boat] we figured someone was lost because they were clearly in the no-motor zone,? Yess said. ?We were thinking of going down to offer them an extra map we had. ? But it became pretty clear they weren?t lost. They knew right where they were going, right to where campsites were.?
Yess shared his experience in a telephone interview this week from his Waseca, Minn., home.
?The first three shots I heard sounded aimed ? bang? bang? bang. Then it sounded like someone emptying aclip from a semi-automatic, like a 15-shot clip, as fast as they could pull the trigger,?? said Yess, a veteran firearms safety instructor.
But that wasn?t all.
?We head a thud, then a big BOOM. It sounded like dynamite to me at first,?? Yess said. ?We heard that after each volley of shots.??
He later concluded with other campers on the lake that the explosions were from a large-diameter fireworks mortar, like those used in commercial fireworks displays.
Yess said he suspected at least one and possibly two other guns were fired, based on the difference in sound from the shots.
?They moved around on the lake ? We?d hear them emptying a clip. Then we?d hear the explosions again. We didn?t know what they were doing, what they were shooting at,?? Yess said.
The suspects never came onto the island where Yess was camped, and the group had no communication with the men in the boat. But at one point the suspects? silver boat came within about 100 yards of Yess? campsite. Three men were clearly outlined in the boat.
?We heard shots again, and then we saw the muzzle flashes and we just hit the deck,?? Yess said. ?They were either shooting toward us or to the front. But we weren?t going to take a chance.??
Yess? group had hidden their rain tarp and canoe and moved their gear deep into the woods, where they hid much of the night. They exchanged flashlight signals with another group at a nearby campsite. Both groups signaled that they were OK, but no one felt safe enough to venture out.
?We were up pretty much all night,?? he said.
The next morning Yess? group went to Ely and met Lake County Sheriff?s Department and U.S. Forest Service officers, who said the men involved in the shooting had been apprehended. Only then did Yess find out that no one had been hurt.
As word spread that the men had been caught, cheers of relief let loose.
?We had two women coming out, when we told them they caught the guys, they said ?Praise the lord!? They were pretty upset about the whole thing,? Yess said. ?I think a lot of people were affected by this. I?m sure everyone on the lake heard what was going on. It was a very calm night and you could hear everything on the water.??
After talking to other campers while leaving the lake the next morning, Yess said he felt fortunate that the suspects didn?t come on land at his campsite.
?They did go into at least one campsite that we know of and physically confront people. They were saying things like ?You don?t belong here? and ?No one will never know who did this,? ?? Yess said. ?I guess they didn?t count on people having cell phones and calling it in.??
Several campers used cell phones to call authorities who, plotting the route of the suspects? return trip by where campers were calling from, waited at a boat landing on Fall Lake where six suspects were intercepted. Two men were arrested at the landing.
?It was my daughter?s boyfriend?s first trip to the Boundary Waters. Now he asks if our next trip is going to be to Iraq or Afghanistan,?? Yess said. ?It?s really something that sticks with you. You?re out in the wilderness on a beautiful, tranquil night expecting to hear the loons and then you have this happen.??
About three weeks after the incident, criminal complaints have not yet been filed so no formal charges have been leveled against any of the six suspects. That also means few details of the investigation have been made public.
Here?s what authorities have confirmed so far:
Six suspects in two boats apparently involved in the incident were met at the Fall Lake boat landing early Aug. 8. Lake County sheriff?s deputies responded with armed law enforcement officers from the U.S. Forest Service and the Ely Police Department.
Two men were arrested but were released within 36 hours. Four other people, including a juvenile, also may be charged. All are Ely-area residents. Two firearms were taken as evidence.
One of the suspects arrested told the News Tribune on Monday that his attorney advised him not to comment on the case.
Lake County Sheriff Carey Johnson said this week that the suspects appeared to be under the influence of alcohol at the time. He said the threats made to campers appeared random and that there?s no reason to suspect any additional harassment of BWCAW campers.
Guns are allowed in the federally managed Superior National Forest and in the BWCAW. But state laws on hunting, terroristic threats and firearms discharge apply. The Forest Service also bans discharge of firearms and fireworks near campsites.
Gunplay is not a common problem in the 1.1 million-acre BWCAW. There was an incident of gunfire in the La Croix Ranger District in August 2005, when a suspect appeared to fire a gun at a camper, said Kris Reichenbach, spokeswoman for the Superior National Forest.
Reichenbach said there?s no need to restrict firearms or shooting in the BWCAW based on the Basswood Lake incident.
?We could implement additional restrictions ... and it might be justified if there was a widespread firearm problem on the forest. However, we have had very few incidents reported, and it makes sense to be consistent with the state?? gun laws, she said.
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Topic: Six to be charged in BWCA shooting spree (Read 5673 times)
