HAYWARD, Wis. – A dispute among deer hunters over a tree stand in northwestern Wisconsin erupted Sunday in a series of shootings that left five people dead and three injured, officials said.

The suspect, Chai Vang, was arrested about 5 p.m. local time, Sawyer County Chief Deputy Tim Zeigle said.

The violence began shortly after a hunting party saw a hunter occupying their tree stand, Zeigle told KSTP-TV of St. Paul, Minn. A confrontation and shooting followed.

One of the shooting victims radioed back to the deer shack for help, he said. When more hunters came to the scene, they also were shot, Zeigle said.

When Vang was arrested, he was carrying a high-powered SKS assault rifle and was out of ammunition, Zeigle said.

The shootings happened in the town of Meteor in southwestern Sawyer County, County Sheriff James Meier said in a news release. Three people were taken to a local hospital, Meier said.

The three wounded were taken to hospitals in Marshfield and Rice Lake, where officials said one was in critical condition, one was serious and one was fair.

Described as prime deer hunting territory, the rolling land is covered with hardwoods, including poplar and birch.

Zeigle said two members of the hunting party were returning to their shack about noon when they spotted a hunter sitting in one of their deer stands. They told him that he was on private property and that he needed to leave.

Hunters must ask permission to hunt on private property. Authorities say trespassing is one of the most frequent violations during the deer season.

The trespasser was wearing camouflage except for an orange vest and the large deer hunting number that hunters are required to wear in Wisconsin.

Zeigle said a confrontation erupted and the man opened fire with his assault rifle.

One of the injured hunters used his walkie-talkie to alert his companions in the hunting shack that he had been shot, Zeigle said. When the other hunters emerged from the shack, the shooter began firing at them as well, he said.

In the meantime, one of the victims jotted down the deer hunting number the shooter was wearing.

Zeigle said members of the hunting party may have returned fire, “but this has not been confirmed.”

The injured hunters tried to call for help, but there is no cell phone reception in this area of Wisconsin, so the men loaded one of the injured hunters into a pickup and drove to Ed’s Pit Stop on Wisconsin 48 in Birchwood. They were met there by an ambulance, which transported the injured hunter to the Rice Lake hospital.

The number the injured hunter jotted down was then relayed to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, which quickly identified the suspect as Vang, Zeigle said.

Wisconsin’s deer gun hunting season started Saturday and lasts for nine days.

Bill Wagner, 72, of Oshkosh, was about two miles away near Deer Lake with a party of about 20 other hunters.

After they got word of a shooting, it took him and others about three hours to round up the rest of their party. He said they heard sirens, planes and helicopters and noticed the surrounding roads blocked off.

“When you’re hunting you don’t expect somebody to try to shoot you and murder you,” he said. “You have no idea who is coming up to you.”

The incident won’t stop their hunt, Wagner said.

“We’re all old, dyed-in-wool hunters,” he said. “We wouldn’t go home because of this but we will keep it in our minds.”

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources sold nearly 640,000 deer licenses for this year’s firearms deer season, which opened on Saturday. The season runs through Nov. 28. Minnesota accounts for the largest number of nonresident deer hunters in Wisconsin. This year, 15,374 firearms licenses were sold to Minnesota residents.

Wisconsin often is among the top five nationally in deer killed by hunters. The state is also among the top five nationally in number of deer hunters.