the dude Cheney shot

I'm just gonna save this for the archives.


New York Times

February 18, 2006

Compassion for Cheney as Victim Heads Home
By RICK LYMAN

CORPUS CHRISTI, Tex., Feb. 17 — Declaring that "accidents do and will happen," the 78-year-old man who was shot by Vice President Dick Cheney at a weekend quail hunt emerged from the hospital here Friday looking tanned, cheery, robust and speckled with bruises.

The patient, Harry M. Whittington, an Austin lawyer and well-known figure in the state's Republican Party, thanked his doctors, praised the news media and expressed sorrow that the whole incident had become such a political flashpoint for the vice president.

"This past weekend encompassed all of us in a cloud of misfortune and sadness that is not easy to explain, especially to those who are not familiar with the great sport of quail hunting," Mr. Whittington said.
"My family and I are deeply sorry for all that Vice President Cheney and his family have had to go through this past week," he added.

Dressed in a dark suit, white shirt and gold tie, with only a few scratches and purplish blotches visible above his crisp collar, Mr. Whittington walked out of the hospital and spoke for slightly more than three minutes, taking no questions.

He neither recounted what happened late last Saturday afternoon on the Armstrong Ranch, in Kenedy County to the south, nor revealed any new details about the shooting. Instead, he insisted — as the vice president and others in the hunting party have, and as the local county sheriff has since ruled — that it had simply been an accident.

"We all assume certain risks in whatever we do, whatever activities we pursue, and regardless of how experienced, careful and dedicated we are," Mr. Whittington said, "accidents do and will happen, and that's what happened."

Mr. Cheney said he had mistakenly struck Mr. Whittington in the face, neck and chest with birdshot while following a flushed quail with his 28-gauge Perazzi shotgun. The vice president said that he was not aware Mr. Whittington had returned to the group after leaving to retrieve some downed birds, and that he pulled the trigger before realizing the lawyer was nearby and in the line of fire.

The vice president and Mr. Whittington had been guests of the Armstrong family, which has owned the historic South Texas ranch since 1852 and frequently use the game-rich property to entertain major political figures and business leaders. Mr. Cheney had hunted there often.

News of the shooting did not emerge from the ranch for 18 hours, when a co-owner, Katharine Armstrong, who had been among the hunting party, called The Corpus Christi Caller-Times. Not until Wednesday did Mr. Cheney speak publicly about the incident, conducting an exclusive interview with Fox News in which he took full responsibility for what happened.

The vice president made brief mention of the incident again on Friday while addressing the Wyoming Legislature in Cheyenne. After taking the rostrum before a standing, cheering crowd of lawmakers and guests, Mr. Cheney said the warm greeting was welcome, especially, he added, "when you've had a very long week."

"Thankfully," he added, "Harry Whittington is on the mend and doing very well."

He said nothing else about the shooting.

Mr. Cheney spoke for just over 15 minutes, mainly reminiscing about his years in Wyoming and his political start as an intern at the Capitol in 1965.

At Christus Spohn Hospital Corpus Christi-Memorial, Dr. David Blanchard, the chief of emergency care, said that starting Friday, Mr. Whittington would complete his recovery at home in Austin.

Earlier, doctors had said he might need to remain under observation for several more days, as he still had as many as 200 pellets in his body. Mr. Whittington suffered a mild heart attack on Tuesday because one of those pellets had lodged in his heart.

Mr. Whittington spoke in a firm, slightly raspy voice on Friday, and referring to Mr. Cheney and his family, he said: "We send our love and respect to them as they deal with situations that are much more serious than what we've had this week. And we hope that he will continue to come to Texas and seek the relaxation that he deserves."

Kirk Johnson contributed reporting from Cheyenne, Wyo., for this article.

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