Cheney Accidentally Shoots Fellow Hunter in Texas

[Mr. Blonde]

WASHINGTON — Late night comedy stars are probably planning a slew of new jokes after news broke Sunday that Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot and injured a hunting buddy.

Harry Whittington, 78, was hunting quail with Cheney on Armstrong Ranch in south Texas when Cheney sprayed his friend in the face and chest with the birdshot from a 28-gauge shotgun. Birdshot disperses a spray of small pellets rather than a single larger shotgun round.

According to Armstrong, who is friends with both the Cheneys and the Whittingtons and set up the two for the hunting trip at her property, a group of hunters was traveling in a vehicle on the ranch when it spotted a covey of quail in the late afternoon.

Armstrong, who remained in the car, said Whittington shot a bird and went to look for it in the tall grass, while Cheney and a third hunter walked to another spot and found 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 told The Associated Press.

Armstrong told FOX News that Cheney, thinking he was the last hunter on the right of the party, turned and fired at a quail. Whittington was standing 30 yards away on lower ground with the sun to his back. He was knocked to the ground, but not knocked out. All members of the hunting party were wearing blaze orange, she said.

"The vice president didn't see him," Amstrong told The AP. "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.

The shots "broke the skin," Armstrong said. "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."

The shooting was first reported by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times.

"It was just one of those things that unfortunately happens quite often when hunting," said Kathryn Garcia, who broke the news for the Caller-Times.

Armstrong said the vice president's emergency personnel team responded more quickly than she would have.

"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."

Texas Monthly Executive Editor Paul Burka told FOX News that the area where the men were hunting is well-removed from major medical centers, and the hospital in Corpus Christi is about 80-100 miles from the ranch, which is in the coastal south of Texas.

"The country down there is mostly brush, it's not open country at all, it's mesquite, cat claw, everything down there sticks or stings. So you're going through difficult country and you can't see for very large distances so it would be a situation where something like that would occur," Burka said.

Peter Banko, a spokesman for Christus Spohn Memorial Center said Whittington was brought in around 8:15 pm local time on Saturday night where he was treated by the trauma unit. He said Whittington is in stable condition, as he was when he arrived, and he is aware of no major injuries. Banko added that Whittington was alert when he saw him earlier in the day.

Cheney's spokeswoman, Lea Anne McBride, said the vice president visited with Whittington and his wife at the hospital on Sunday afternoon. After the visit, a vice presidential spokesman said Cheney is "pleased Mr Whittington is in good shape and good spirits."

Whittington sent word through a hospital official that he would have no comment on the incident out of respect for Cheney.

Armstrong said Cheney was very apologetic after the shot, held Whittington's face and cleaned up the blood.

"This is something that happens from time to time. You now, I've been peppered pretty well myself," said Armstrong.

The shooting is unlikely one of a dispute over politics as Burka said Whittington has strong Republican credentials. However, he is also known as an exemplary individual.

"He's the kind of person who when he got an appointment it wasn't because he was a crony but because he was somebody of extraordinary public service," Burka said.

Roll Call Executive Editor and FOX News contributor Mort Kondracke said since Whittington wasn't hurt badly, it's unlikely much damage would be done to Cheney's reputation as a politician or a hunter. He added that Americans are likely to be deluged with late-night jokes in the coming days.

"This will just play into 'Dick Cheney is a meanie kind of guy, but we didn't know that he shot people too.' That sort of thing, but all fun and games," Kondracke said.

Already heading down that path, Weekly Standard Editor Fred Barnes added that he didn't think the accident would serve as a distraction from Cheney's problems over the 2003 CIA leak and reports that his former chief of staff, I Lewis "Scooter" Libby testified Cheney permitted him to leak classified information from President Bush's daily briefing to justify war in Iraq.

Cheney was legally hunting with a license he purchased in November, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department spokesman Steve Lightfoot said. The vice president flew back to Washington on Sunday evening, according to his office.


Source

[Niger Angelus]

Haha, great.

[Repugnant Abomination]

Our Vice President is so emo.

[Ironic Mustache]

I've never heard of a 28 gauge, I used to have a 20 gauge when I was like 14 and it was pussy. I imagine a 28 would be even more so.

[ProfessorNumber]

Yeah, it designed for 12 year old females, who can't handle the recoil of a real man's firearm. Sort of like Cheney.

[Deadly Crescent Kick]

quail 1 cheney 0

[Orgazmo]

I heard about this on the news. The finals words of the reporter: "The Secret Service tended to the injured man until paramedics arrived. The local police are currently investigating the incident."

Glad to hear that the local police are on it. I'm sure they're going to figure some shit out.

[Ugly Bastard]

While humorous, that's just standard procedure. It's their jurisdiction so they file the report. They're not really "investigating" anything per se.

Sounds like Dick could use a little target practice if you know what I mean.

[Mr. Blonde]

Birdshot Pellet Migrates to Heart of Man Shot by Cheney

Tuesday, February 14, 2006
By Sharon Kehnemui Liss

A birdshot pellet that hit Harry Whittington, the friend Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot on Saturday, has migrated to his heart, causing a "minor" heart attack, hospital representatives said on Tuesday outside the hospital where Whittington is being treated.

"He has not had a heart attack in the traditional sense. As I said before, he was asymptomatic," said Corpus Spohn Hospital Memorial administrator Peter Banko.

"He will have a full life the Lord intended to have, and this shouldn't affect him one way or the other," he added.

Dr. David Blanchard, director of emergency services at the hospital, said Whittington, 78, suffered a "silent heart attack," meaning he did not exhibit any signs of a heart attack, the sweating, shoulder pain or crushing chest pain, but an EKG showed that he suffered an atrial fibrillation. The event occurred around 6:30 a.m. CST, the doctor said, and Whittington was immediately moved to the cardiac catheterization lab in the intensive care unit where a blockage in blood flow was discovered.

"The BB basically has lodged in a certain area that has caused inflammatory changes. When that occurs, there is irritability to the heart muscle ... it is basically like an electrical short circuit," Blanchard said, adding that it is "easily treated with medications" and is a nonsurgical condition.

Whittington was accidentally shot by Cheney, an experienced hunter, during a quail hunting trip on Armstrong Ranch in south Texas on Saturday afternoon. Not aware that his hunting partner had returned from retrieving a bird he had shot, Cheney turned right to shoot a covey of quail and sprayed his hunting partner with shotgun pellets instead. Whittington was shot in the face, neck and chest but never lost consciousness, Katharine Armstrong, the owner of the ranch, reported.

Commenting publicly on the incident for the first time Tuesday, the vice president's office issued a statement saying Cheney had called Whittington around 1:30 p.m. EST to check up on him.

"The vice president wished Mr. Whittington well and asked if there was anything he needed. The vice president said that he stood ready to assist. Mr. Whittington's spirits were good, but obviously his situation deserves the careful monitoring that his doctors are providing. The vice president said that his thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Whittington and his family," the statement reads.

Blanchard said that one birdshot pellet is the focus of concern, and other birdshot pellets have not endangered Whittington. Banko said that cardiologists tending to the Austin attorney do not want to perform any surgery on him, particularly as the birdshot has not entered any chambers of the heart or coronary arteries.

"It's not moving and ... the cardiologists do not feel it's going to move. ... If it were in a position where it's going to move they would have gone in and done surgery immediately. It's not in a position where they think it's going to move any further to endanger his health," Banko said, adding that Whittington's heart is as healthy or healthier than that of a much younger man.

Blanchard said the birdshot pellet is a rounded, smooth object, which in itself is good news since it won't pierce the body at a later time. He added that thousands of Americans are walking around with shrapnel in their bodies without any complications, and he said Whittington has shown no signs of developing any infection.

"We are very, very optimistic that with Mr. Whittington's strong heart, his personality, his stamina, the will, that he will do very well, and we're prepared to deal with anything that may develop," Blanchard said, adding that doctors make daily rounds of all patients to check for these types of eventualities.

Blanchard added that doctors were taking a "conservative" approach in treating Whittington and that he and other cardiologists at the hospital had the "concurrence" of the White House medical team.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan did not mention the medical report during his daily briefing, though Blanchard said the White House had been informed around 9 a.m. or 10 a.m. EST. McClellan said later that he was not asked about Whittington's health nor did he volunteer the information. He said he did not think it was his place to reveal the development out of respect for doctor-patient confidentiality.

As reporters scold the White House for skimming on the details, Democrats also called on the vice president to be more forthcoming. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., urged Cheney to hold a press conference, which he has not done since 2002. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., accused the administration of being the most secretive in "modern history."

"Talk about secrecy, the vice president accidentally shoots someone and keeps that a secret for nearly a day. That man, of course, is now very sick," Reid said.

Cheney's office said that he had been informed around 12:30 p.m. EST that hospital officials were going to hold a 1 p.m. press conference. When the vice president returned from a meeting with Republicans on Capitol Hill, he watched part of the news conference, his office said.

On Monday, the state gave Cheney and Whittington warning citations for breaking Texas hunting law by failing to buy a $7 stamp allowing them to shoot upland game birds. A spokesman for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said warnings are being issued in most cases because the stamp requirement only went into effect five months ago and many hunters weren't aware of it.

The Parks and Wildlife Department report said Whittington was retrieving a downed bird and stepped out of the hunting line he was sharing with Cheney. "Another covey was flushed and Cheney swung on a bird and fired, striking Whittington in the face, neck and chest at approximately 30 yards," the report said.

Originally Posted by Mr. Blonde

Birdshot Pellet Migrates to Heart of Man Shot by Cheney

"Talk about secrecy, the vice president accidentally shoots someone and keeps that a secret for nearly a day. That man, of course, is now very sick," Reid said.

It kills me that people will try for anything to rub a politicians nose in. The news services were contacted that night, and Mr. Cheney naturally isn't going to say anything he isn't legally obligated to in the manner because there could (of course) be legal ramifications. Lets say he said he "was sorry" for his act, and then the man went on to die - this just puts him 1 step closer to negligent homicide. When in fact, from what I've read, all proper care was indeed taken, and the man who was shot wasn't where he was supposed to be. But the vice president isn't going to go public and blame a man who is in serious condition on his own injury - this would be rude and make Cheney look very bad. The only reasonable action is to sit tight, and let the official channels handle the situation while making as few public addresses as possible.

[Beebs]

First man shot by an active Vice President since Hamilton.

[theMerciless1]

aaron burr was a punk ass bitch who got what he deserved!

fyi, theres an awesome park at the site of the duel on blvd east.

[Beebs]

Burr won big guy...and you live there?

[theMerciless1]

burr eventually contracted syphillis.

i live about 2 miles down the river from the spot.

[Beebs]

Good point, Hamilton's ideas also prevailed, but the motherfucker still got shot by the vicegoddamnedpresident, where is that America now? We need that America again.

Where is the America that wasn't affraid to march Indians accross the country and put them in reservations? We need that America back. That America would have acquired Canada and Mexico by now and displaced the locals.

[Ugly Bastard]

Pwn3d