Obviously getting his troops to go around shooting people isnt
enough for him, So he's decided to take things into his own hands
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Vice President Cheney Accidentally Shoots Man
Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot and wounded a
companion during a weekend quail hunting trip in Texas, spraying
the fellow hunter in the face and chest with shotgun pellets.
Harry Whittington, a millionaire attorney from Austin, was in
stable condition in the intensive care unit of a Corpus Christi
hospital on Sunday, according to Yvonne Wheeler, spokeswoman for
the Christus Spohn Health System. The incident occurred Saturday at
a ranch in south Texas where the vice president and two companions
were hunting quail.
It was not reported publicly by the vice president's office for
nearly 24 hours, and then only after the incident was reported
locally by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times.
Katharine Armstrong, the ranch's owner, said Sunday that Cheney was
using a 28-guage shotgun and that Whittington was about 30 yards
away when he was hit in the cheek, neck and chest.
Each of the hunters were wearing bright orange vests at the time,
Armstrong told reporters at the ranch about 60 miles southwest of
Corpus Christi. She said Whittington was "alert and doing
fine."
Armstrong in an interview with The Associated Press said emergency
personnel traveling with Cheney tended to Whittington before an
ambulance - routinely on call because of the vice president's
presence - took him to the hospital.
Cheney's spokeswoman, Lea Anne McBride, said the vice president met
with Whittington and his wife at the hospital on Sunday. Cheney
"was pleased to see that he's doing fine and in good spirits," she
said.
Armstrong said she was watching from a car while Cheney,
Whittington and another hunter got out of the vehicle to shoot at a
covey of quail. Whittington shot a bird and went to look for it in
the tall grass, while Cheney and the third hunter walked to another
spot and discovered a second covey.
Whittington "came up from behind the vice president and the other
hunter and didn't signal them or indicate to them or announce
himself," Armstrong said. "The vice president didn't see him," she
continued. "The covey flushed and the vice president picked out a
bird and was following it and shot. And by god, Harry was in the
line of fire and got peppered pretty good."
Whittington has been a private practice attorney in Austin since
1950 and has long been active in Texas Republican politics. He's
been appointed to several state boards, including when then-Gov.
George W. Bush named him to the Texas Funeral Service
Commission.
McBride did not comment about why the vice president's office did
not tell reporters about the accident until the next day. She
referred the question to Armstrong, who could not be reached again
Sunday evening.
Armstrong, owner of the Armstrong Ranch where the accident
occurred, said Whittington was bleeding and Cheney was very
apologetic. "It broke the skin," she said of the shotgun pellets.
"It knocked him silly. But he was fine. He was talking. His eyes
were open. It didn't get in his eyes or anything like that."
"Fortunately, the vice president has got a lot of medical people
around him and so they were right there and probably more cautious
than we would have been," she said. "The vice president has got an
ambulance on call, so the ambulance came."
Cheney is an avid hunter who makes annual hunting trips to South
Dakota to hunt pheasants. He also travels frequently to Arkansas to
hunt ducks. Armstrong said Cheney is a longtime friend who comes to
the ranch to hunt about once a year and is "a very safe
sportsman."
She said Whittington is a regular, too, but she thought it was the
first time the two men hunted together.
"This is something that happens from time to time. You now, I've
been peppered pretty well myself," said Armstrong. The 50,000-acre
Armstrong ranch has been in the influential south Texas family
since the turn of the last century.
Katharine is the daughter of Tobin Armstrong, a politically
connected rancher who has been a guest at the White House and spent
48 years as director of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers
Association. He died in October. Cheney was among the dignitaries
who attended his funeral.