Those Who Died or Were Wounded
Portraits of Some Minn. Shooting Victims
By The Associated Press
Brief portraits of some of the victims in the Red Lake shootings:
THE DEAD:
Daryl Lussier, 58
The grandfather of accused gunman Jeff Weise and one of his first two victims, Lussier was a lifelong tribal police officer known around the reservation by his nickname: Dash.
"If you knew him, you said 'Dash,' and everyone knew who you were talking about," said Ed Naranjo, a retired Bureau of Indian Affairs officer who worked with Lussier.
Lussier had four adult children and two younger than 10, Naranjo said. He helped maintain order during periods of turmoil and unrest on the reservation.
"He was that kind of individual who could calm a very hot situation," Naranjo said. "He just projected that feeling."
Tribal officers were nervous in the late '80s, Naranjo said, when the tribe switched from Bureau of Indian Affairs protection to contract officers.
"There was that song at the time — 'Don't Worry, Be Happy,'" Naranjo recalled. "Everybody was feeling kind of down, and he would just walk around singing that."
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Michelle Sigana, 32
Sigana enjoyed her new job as a cashier at Seven Clans Casino in Thief River Falls, but her real passion was her family.
Killed along with her companion, Daryl Lussier, the Red Lake woman loved spending time with Lussier and their son, Devon, who is 12 or 13.
"They just gave him whatever he wanted," said Mark Sigana, a cousin. "For both of them, their priority was making sure he had everything, which he did."
Mark Sigana last saw his cousin a week ago, when she was on her way to Bemidji to shop.
"There was never a dull moment with her," he said. "She was just the happiest person anyone can be around."
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Derrick Brun, 28
Brun, a school security guard, was remembered as a gentle spirit who loved the kids he guarded at Red Lake High School, his alma mater.
Brun was a former police officer and was taking classes to be an emergency medical technician, said a cousin, Nancy Richards.
"He was just an all-around good guy," she said, adding that he was the type of person who would open his doors to someone who needed a place to stay.
"He was a kind, gentle person," Richards said.
Brun was divorced and had a daughter, Courtney, who died a couple of years ago at the age of 2 1/2 from a medical condition.
"That's the only comfort the family has, is that he's with Courtney now," Richards said.
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Alicia White, 15
White was a lot of fun, the kind of girl who had lots of friends, but things weren't always easy.
"She was really a sweet little girl," said Wendy Johnson, whose daughter, Ashley Morrison, was friends with Alicia. "She never hurt anybody, and had no bad things to say about anything or anyone."
The Redby teenager was the oldest of six children and lived with her grandmother, who was ill. But Alicia kept a cheery demeanor, playing basketball for the freshman team.
"She was nice," said Morrison, a junior. "She was so sweet. I rode the bus with her and I kept asking, `Why did he shoot her?'"
Pastor Tom Pollock of Redby Community Church said she helped her grandmother raise her younger siblings. "She's really played the role of mother," Pollock said.
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Neva Rogers, 62
After Neva Rogers left her teaching job on the Red Lake Indian Reservation, she left for several years. But she returned about six years ago because she felt a strong connection to the community.
And Red Lake residents were happy for that.
"She just made a point when students had personal difficulties to be someone that they could talk to," said her daughter, Cindy Anderson. "And they did."
Rogers, an English instructor, was the adviser to the yearbook and the student newspaper, helping students prepare sports reports and, with spring nearing, profiles of graduating seniors.
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Thurlene Stillday, 15
Stillday loved to tell stories.
"She always had something to talk about. You know, `They did this over the weekend or they did that,'" said Sondra Hegstrom, who was two grades ahead of the freshman. "She had a lot of friends and was happy all the time."
The Ponemah girl came from a big family — friends say she was one of four girls and a boy — and looked forward to doing good things in high school and beyond.
"She looked up to us because we were upper classmen," Hegstrom said.
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Chase Lussier, 15
Chase Lussier was a teenager with big responsibilities.
Students say Lussier was helping to care for a son who had been born just months earlier. He tried to balance that with basketball, doing his homework and spending time with his friends.
"He was a typical teenager," said Sondra Hegstrom, a junior who had known Chase since they went to the Roman Catholic mission school in Red Lake when they were youngsters.
"He loved his baby," she said.
And he might have been a hero. Some students say he pushed a girl out of the way before he was shot.
THE WOUNDED:
Steven Cobenais, 15
Jo Cobenais was a few rooms down from the classroom where her second cousin, Steven Cobenais, was shot. Steven was being treated at a Fargo hospital, and his cousin said his family's been told he's getting better but has a long way to go.
Jo Cobenais said her cousin, three years her junior, was charming and funny. "He always makes me laugh," she said.
Steven Cobenais is the second oldest of four kids, and the only boy. They live with their parents on the reservation, and Jo Cobenais said they're a close-knit family.
"They're always together," Jo Cobenais said.
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Ryan Auginash, 14
Auginash has already forgiven the teenager who shot and wounded him.
"He has a good heart," said Ryan's brother, Andrew Auginash. "He forgave the shooter." His brother said he thought the gunman "just flipped out," Andrew Auginash said.
Ryan Auginash was being treated at a hospital in Bemidji. He loves music and plays the guitar — he taught himself, his brother said.
"He's pretty scared and he doesn't know if he wants to go to public school," his brother said.
We will remember.