Everyday Erinyes

I'm sure there is more than one thing which has happened which really should call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with it, but I'll only share one this week. As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. These roughly translate as "unceasing," "grudging," and "vengeful destruction."

Certainly both Megaera and Tisiphone will be interested in this incident – but Alecto may as well go along, since having reinforcements never hurts.

On March 6, 2016, three human beings, Jesus Manso-Perez, Phia Vue, and Mai Vue, were shot and killed in their apartment building on the south side of Milwaukee.  A fourth, Jesus Manso-Carrasquillo, was shot at but managed to escape.

As difficult as it is to believe, it appears the victims may have been targeted for the heinous crime of not speaking English.

The story starts as Manso-Perez and his son, Manso-Carrasquillo, were walking to the apartment's laundry room.  The shooter, Dan J. Popp, also lives in the building; as the two were walking past his apartment, he asked them if they wanted a beer.  They declined, and he then asked where they were from.  They replied they were from Puerto Rico, and Popp said, "Oh, that's why you don't speak English."

After starting the laundry (in the basement), the two turned and climbed the stairs to return to their apartment.  However, Popp, now armed with a rifle, stood over them on a landing.  He said, "You guys got to go," and shot Manso-Perez in the head.  Manso-Carrasquillo was able to run for the front door and escape just in time to hear the second shot, which he is sure was meant for him.

Phia Vue and his wife Mai lived with their four children in another apartment in the complex.  Phia and Mai had been out of town over the weekend; the children were with a 25-year-old relative.  Shortly after the couple's return, Popp knocked on their door, but after asking whether someone was knocking and being told "No," he left.  A short time laters, the Vues heard gunshots in the hall, and all hid in a bedroom.  Mai handed the sitter a cellphone to call the police

Popp kicked in the front door and found the family in the bedroom.  Pointing the rifle at Phia, Popp ordered him to leave.  Phia was later found dead in the bathroom, shot in the head.

Returning to the bedroom, Popp started dragging Mai and two daughters out of the apartment; in the confusion, some were able to run outside.  But Mai was later found dead in Popp's apartment.

Police arrived just prior to the shot which apparently killed Mai.  After declining (from inside) a request by an officer to speak with him, a few minutes later Popp came out of the building, dropped the rifle off his shoulder, and was subdued and arrested.

I'm sure you ladies will have no trouble finding Dan Popp in custody.  If I may offer advice, I hope one task you will accept is ensuring he is not able to post his $150,000 bail – which seems a little low to me and to other writers for the death of three human beings.

On Sunday, March 13, 2016, friends and families of the deceased gathered together for a memorial service for their loved ones who were killed.  Prayers were offered in English, Hmong, and Spanish.

Update – There is now a petition circulating to District Attorney John Chisholm
requesting that this triple shooting be investigated as a hate crime.

The Furies and I will be back.